John Scarffe, Nederland. For the first time, Nederland’s three advisory boards met together with three members of the Nederland Board of Trustees for a work session on developing Barker Meadows Park, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, 2019, in the Nederland Community Center. About 15 board members attended the meeting representing the Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), Parks, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) and the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB). 

Jessica Ansari, PROSAB chair, and new PROSAB member Paul Mooney, led the meeting. Ansari said PROSAB wants to open the lines of communication among the boards with the possibility of future meetings after this. The main goal of the meeting was to come together and come up with solutions. The boards include people with expertise and experience regarding different issues.

PROSAB has five new members, and they want to collaborate with Nederland’s other advisory boards, because their roles overlap. They’d like to get clarification on the boards’ roles.

“Nederland is a special place and worth keeping for the future,” Ansari said. 

Ansari quoted the Town of Nederland’s master plan, called Envision 2020. “Our community proudly maintains its small-town feel and distinct identity--a small is beautiful, less is more approach. While our town has grown, we have remained true to our origins while internalizing a model of sustainability in which a healthy society comes from a healthy economy, and a healthy environment is essential for both.”

Nederland is recognized for its trails, natural areas and unwavering commitment to the environment. Nederland’s surrounding wilderness area and other sensitive natural areas are restored, protected and preserved. 

Ansari also quoted the Nederland Design Standards, which plan to encourage visitors and offer town residents less quantifiable benefits. It encourages alternative materials instead of concrete and asphalt. 

Mooney said he is still discovering how to operate on the board and how we interface with the other boards. The role of a PROSAB member is to put together a plan for the town for parks and recreation in an advisory role, and then it goes to the Board of Trustees. 

“We’re trying to figure things out, and we fell into a position with quite a bit of controversy. We have gotten feedback on the plan as we move forward,” Mooney said. He asked if each board could explain how it has input on Barker Meadows and how to move forward as quickly as possible.

SAB Chair Melody Baumhover said their job is to look at projects and how to make them sustainable. For example, when the new Town Shop was being constructed, SAB rated the project for sustainability. “The board has taken it on to be more action-oriented than is expected of us.” 

Other SAB projects have included the pollinated garden and wetlands mitigation. SAB member Erica Thorley said she has mainly been working on energy and the town’s goal of 100 percent renewable energy. 

Ansari and Mooney said they will have a lot of questions and could use a lot of help from SAB on Barker Meadows Park. Trustee and PROSAB liaison Jonathan Baumhover said PROSAB is making the plans, but it falls on the Board of Trustees to support all of this. Ideally, they can hire an outside landscaper and can find local folks to do that kind of work. 

NDDA Chair Brent Tregaskis said the board sees its role specific to the business district, and it just happens that Guercio Field fits in and is pretty much their purview. “Our mission is to help businesses thrive and do better,” he said. 

The NDDA intends to build up business in the winter when it is slow, getting people to stop and spend money and making the town looking more attractive. The NDDA has the ability to raise money and can help subsidize a grant with matching funds. 

It gives the town an advantage of raising funds through different means, Tregaskis said. The NDDA could set aside $100,000 to match a $1 million grant for Guercio Field, because it would be good for business in Nederland.

Mark Stringfellow, NDDA vice chair and chair of the Board of Zoning Adjustments, said the Barker Meadows Park area is all zoned public, and the DDA can invest in public land. Their desire is to work on an amphitheater and a pavilion. 

NDDA will do the dirt-work for the amphitheater, and eventually a big pavilion to encourage folks to come to town. Stringfellow said they want to work with everyone here to stay within the parameters and design standards. 

The Master Plan has designated the approximate place and size. They would install a 30 by 42 foot concrete platform and can put a roof on in it the future. They would regrade the amphitheater area. 

PROSAB Secretary Jasmine Bible said the GOCO grant won’t fund a performance area, so the NDDA can work on that. Stringfellow said, “That’s why this is natural for us to come in and say we can take care of that.”

Regarding the role of the Board of Trustees, Jonathan Baumhover said the town has the Nederland Planning Process (NPP). The first step is a Trustee discussion on any matter, and Barker has been discussed many times. Then the item goes through the Planning Commission, Police and Fire Departments and then back to PROSAB. 

Mooney said PROSAB will be moving the grant request forward. “This is our first big step and then we have a schedule to meet approvals and make sure it gets in for approval on October 24.” 

Jonathan Baumhover said, “I’m looking for the best grant with the best participation from the community. Getting public input in a timely manner is important, and we must do surveys to incorporate into the project, so the town feels like they are included. 

PROSAB member Atashnaa Medicine Shield said they will not be starting from scratch, but this survey, compared to one conducted several years ago, is to be more inclusive. In the past 10 years, there have been shifts in the community. 

The survey originally put out had many flaws. “Our intent is to redo the survey to be more inclusive and specific,” Medicine Shield said. 

Mooney said it’s more about the specifics and where do we put things in the plan. His background is designing and building things, and plans have to be accurate, so he spent the last two weeks trying to put together an accurate plan. 

Mooney put together several different map alternatives for Barker Park, and board members were asked to review them and place stickers on elements they liked or to make suggestions on the plans. The boards discussed meeting together in the future and will work with the boards’ chairs to find another date.

Medicine Shield closed out the meeting by saying, “This has been an historic event.”

(Originally published in the June 27, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)