First grader Mani won the Fire Prevention Week art contest with his poster about properly extinguishing a grease fire. This winning piece will be displayed on one of the department’s fire engines.[/caption]

The Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors (NFPD) met on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, at 7 p.m. to review the last month’s response calls, discuss updates to their fee scheduling, and to hear resident concerns about the Big Springs Egress project.

Fire Chief Charlie Schmidtmann presented to the NFPD his report for late October, early November, which detailed the calls of significance. Schmidtmann noted that the Nederland Fire Department (NFD) received a total of 48 calls since the last board meeting on October 11.

The NFD responded to three accidents at Eldora, two of which involved skiers hitting a tree and needing to be transported via helicopter. There were a total of seven rollover vehicle accidents over the last month, including the night of November 8, when Boulder Canyon was closed due to icy conditions which caused several vehicles to have to be winched out of the creek.

The NFD also responded to an incident of a contractor hitting a gas line in Town, assisted Boulder County Sheriff’s with a family living in tents on the Switzerland Trail who needed rescuing, and to an alarm at an area AirBnb where a wedding was being held. Firefighters solved the issue and deactivated the alarm, earning a round of applause from the wedding party.

Schmidtmann’s report indicated that the NFD responded to an accident involving a person suffering critical injuries from being struck by an excavator bucket in operation. The report notes that the victim was in transport to Boulder Community Health within 12 minutes of the 911 call being answered. With NFD acting on the scene within minutes of the accident happening, it was stated that the Town was thankful for such a quick response.

The customization of the department’s newest vehicle, a UTV meant for wildland operations, has been completed. The vehicle was equipped with emergency lights, a roof rack, radios, a horn, blinkers, a windshield, and a water pump, and is now completely ready for service.

The department’s newest brush truck, vehicle 5631, requires a full pump replacement, which will put the vehicle out of commission and leave the department with two brush trucks still in operation. The NFDs Toyota Tacoma also recently had new rear springs installed.

Schmidtmann’s report announced that the NFPD has hired a new full-time firefighter, Captain Nick Faes, as well as a new firefighter and medic, Jessi Scrivner, who is trained as a paramedic, a wildland medic, and fire medic. Schmidtmann noted that if hiring negotiations go well with their one potential candidate for captain, the department could be fully staffed by January.

Nederland EMS is pursuing grant funding to help offset the costs associated with their ambulance, as well as funding for a new transport ventilator and for digital laryngoscopes.

Seven new CPR instructors have been certified, and the NFPD is currently conducting CPR classes with Nederland Town staff and will soon be planning classes with local businesses. Anthony DeSalvo was also hired as an internal Hazmat training instructor.

The Chief’s report also indicated that the NFPD has received preliminary approval to pursue developing a critical care program for their critical care certified medics. Schmidtmann has contacted Clear Creek EMS Director Aaron Crawleyband Colorado critical care Paramedic of the Year Joseph Blunn to help develop the program and its protocols.

Fire Marshal Andrew Joslin presented his report to the board. Joslin noted that several Nederland businesses were found to be in violation of compliance with the fire code, which included one business being served a “stop work order” and evacuated due to a malfunctioning alarm and fire sprinkler system.

A new battery bank has been installed at the Nederland Community Center, replacing its generator. Xcel Energy has been providing training sessions to staff regarding operating the battery bank.

Congratulations were given to Nederland Elementary first grader Mani, who won the Fire Prevention Week art contest. Mani’s artwork depicts a grease fire on a stove and advises to not use water on such a fire, but to smother it using a pot lid. The winning piece will be displayed on the side of truck 5601.

Joslin’s report noted that a preliminary draft of fire code for Short Term Rentals, which includes language on the banning of fire pits, has been completed. The first draft of the 2023 Fee Schedule Update was also completed.

The NFPD reviewed the fee schedule update but first discussed the intent of Prevention Division fees, which is to compensate the district Fire Marshal and/or Fire Inspector for their work conducting reviews and inspections and ensuring compliance with the fire code.

According to International Fire Code (IFC) 101.3: Intent, “it is generally understood that work requiring fees is the responsibility of the property owner or applicant and is in addition to the services funded by general tax revenue. Fees are not imposed for the exclusive purpose of generating revenue.”

Such fees are for various permits required for installing fire sprinkler systems and alarms, interior construction for property other than single and two-family residences, the commercial operation of a food truck, to install hood and duct fire protection systems, the use of pyrotechnics, for open burning, for plan review resubmission, and for special events with attendees of up to 5,000 or more, to name just a few.

Joslin explained how it had been four years since the fees had been updated and that the dollar amounts shown in the official fee table were from 2019. Most of the fee amounts were changed according to inflation, though many amounts were not changed.

The purpose of the 2023 update, according to Joslin, was to add a few new fees, which included a $150 permit fee for inspection of a vacation rental, a $100 permit fee for inspection of a security gate, a $250 permit fee to businesses for a six-month temporary special event occupancy, a $500 fine for every day that an offense of adopted Fire Code Section 111: Unsafe Buildings has not been rectified, which includes any time a cease and desist order or stop work order is issued, a $250 permit fee for operating a Seasonal Special Event for up to six months, and an Excessive Alarms Fee to address false alarms from system malfunction or improper maintenance, which would charge $200 after the third false alarm, with the amount increasing by $100 with each additional false alarm.

Joslin also mentioned to the board the possibility of adding a fee for any outdoor fires burning during fire bans, and detailed that the fee would be charged incrementally for each repeat violation. The NFPD agreed with Joslin’s suggestion and directed him to add the fee to the 2023 Fee Schedule Update.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher was present for Wednesday’s meeting to hear concerns from a resident of the Big Springs neighborhood regarding the tentative plan to construct an egress route. The NFPD and Fire Marshal Joslin have been receiving several emails from concerned residents about the project and, after conferring with their legal counsel, opted to hold a meeting with one resident who has been “experiencing open hostility from the community.”

Fisher first reiterated that the project is being headed by the Town of Nederland, not the NFPD; however the Town and Nederland’s engineering firm JVA have reached out to the NFD and to Joslin for their opinions on the proposal.

The NFDs official opinion on the Big Springs Egress was that they agreed an egress route was a necessity, that the route should follow the Boulder County Multimodal Code, and that the route should be located as far east as possible for the best opportunity of substantial resident egress.

Fisher explained how the Town is currently reentering a data gathering stage concerning the Big Springs Egress project, which was awarded congressional funding from Congressmen Joe Neguse in 2021. Progress on the project was halted as the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) discussed three potential egress routes and felt there was not enough provided data to make a proper decision.

JVA was chosen through a request-for-proposal process, with their contracted funded by a FEMA grant, and as of last month they have begun assessing the Big Springs area, including utilizing a drone equipped to perform a LiDAR survey, in order to provide Trustees with more data on potential routes.

A Big Springs resident was present to address the board and Fisher about their concerns regarding the egress project, mainly one of the proposed routes which requires use of their private driveway. The resident’s complaint was centered on the accusation that they were being illustrated to the community by Town staff and firefighters as the main opposition to selecting that proposed egress route, and that the Town never reached out to them before discussing their property during a public BOT meeting.

Fisher specified that the Town and the BOT are taking into consideration the resident’s concerns when discussing the Big Springs Egress project, and that due diligence is being made to ensure that the most information possible is being gathered and assessed in order for the most effective and least impactful route to be chosen.

Schmidtmann addressed the resident’s comment that firefighters were responsible for describing the resident as responsible for progress on the egress project being halted and “endangering the community.”

“We would never condone any language like what you were saying earlier,” Schmidtmann said. “I can’t think of any of our firefighters who would say something like that, and we don’t promote that.”

The Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors meets on the third Wednesday of every month. Meetings can be attended online on Microsoft Teams. Their next meeting will be a special meeting to vote on final approval of their 2024 budget, scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 7 p.m. For more information go to: https://www.nfpd.org.