The Nederland Board of Trustees approved funding requests through the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as approving a subdivision ordinance during a regular, virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, at 7 p.m. The Board also approved a license agreement for the Frozen Dead Guys Festival in March 2022 and discussed elections for 2022.

ARPA Funds

The Town of Nederland is receiving $385,319.17 in two payments from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The first tranche in the amount of $192,659.59 was received on June 23, 2021. The second tranche will come no sooner than 12 months later and will be for $192,659.58.

At the December 21, 2021 meeting, the Board reviewed requests for the funds from The Mountain-Ear for $25,000, the Food Pantry for $7,500, the Police Department Lexipol Program for $14,045, and the Premium Pay for Essential Workers at $24,199. Current commitments from the funds include matching funds for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant application for grit removal for $100,000, payoff of utility bills in arrears and accounts with liens for $23,072.10, the Nederland Food Pantry for $7,500, the Nederland Police Department Lexipol program for $14,045, and Town of Nederland Public Works and Police Department for premium pay for essential workers at $24,199.23

The Board had asked that The Mountain-Ear request be brought back with further information, and trustees also requested information on premium pay for employees and volunteers with the Nederland Fire Protection District. In addition to those two requests, Town staff also asked that ARPA funds be used to pay the remaining balance of the invoice for the hybrid meeting system.

Barbara Hardt, The Mountain Ear publisher, has requested ARPA funds for the “Keep It Local” campaign to showcase local businesses in an effort to help them recover financially from the economic impacts of the pandemic. The total request is for $25,000, with $23,400 to be used for full-page newspaper ads featuring local businesses, and $1,600 for a social media and website marketing campaign.

The Mountain-Ear has expanded its website, and after 15 years has more than 1,000 subscribers, Hardt said. The paper has distributed 2,000 papers this week across the area and every three weeks does a saturation to communities with every address.

During public comments, residents voiced full support for The Mountain-Ear, saying it’s a huge resource and advertisements in the paper do reach out to the community. Board members said the proposal has the support from the community and businesses, and love the idea of partnering with The Mountain-Ear.

The Board had requested that Town staff work with the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD) to determine what a premium pay for essential worker payout would be for them, and staff showed the hours worked for paid staff and the number of calls responded to by volunteers who were with the NFPD March 2020 from December 2020.

Based on the information provided, if paid employees received $1 to $2 per hour and volunteers were paid $15 per call, the total paid from ARPA in the form of a one-time bonus would be $23,847.25.

Town staff had requested that the Town commit COVID funding to set up a hybrid meeting system, which would allow people to participate in meetings either physically at the Community Center or from home.

The Town used $9,247.69 from CVRF CARES funding for hybrid meetings. This amount is all they have, so they are requesting that the remaining invoice balance of $2,161.31 be paid from ARPA. The Board has already committed $168,816 of the first tranche of ARPA funds, leaving a remaining $23,843.26.

The Board approved paying the hybrid from ARPA funds and then giving the remainder to The Mountain-Ear.

Subdivision Regulations

City Attorney Jennifer Madsen said the Board of Trustees received draft subdivision regulations that are a repeal and replacement of Chapter 17 on Subdivisions. She said this is a rewrite with new regulations, new processes, and clarification of existing language.

The Draft Ordinance 820 is the product of discussion and review by the Subdivision Committee over a period of about 6 months. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance.

At the September 23 meeting, the Planning Commission discussed the draft subdivision regulations and formed a subcommittee to work on revising and editing the draft. The draft subdivision regulations were before the Planning Commission on December 16, 2020, January 27, 2021, and May 23, 2021, and the Planning Commission recommended approval of Ordinance 820 at the May 26, 2021, meeting.

Ordinance 820 was brought before the Trustees on August 17, 2021, and the Board requested a work session to devote additional time to discuss the new regulations. After a work session on October 19, the Board directed that Ordinance 820 be placed on a future agenda for approval.

Subdivided land is defined as any parcel of land that is to be divided into two or more parcels or is to be used for condominiums, apartments or any other multiple dwelling units. Subdivision regulations include several components to make certain that the regulations must establish standards and procedures for review, approval, modification or disapproval of proposed subdivision plats. The regulations provide the requirements for public hearings, notice procedures, decisions, and the filing of approved plans.

The current subdivision regulations were adopted in 1983. Town staff and the Planning Commission have recognized potential ambiguities and inconsistencies in the regulations. The recommendation for amendment to the subdivision regulations is to clarify ambiguities and inconsistencies; to streamline the process for minor subdivisions; and to allow for administrative approval of lot line adjustments.

The Board approved the Subdivision regulations with Trustee Eric Coombs Esmail voting against it.

Frozen Dead Guy Days license agreement

The Board approved a license agreement for the 2022 Frozen Dead Guys event on March 18 through 20. According to the license agreement, the Licensee will be charged any reasonable and necessary event-related special event, police services, and public works fees stemming from the Event, in addition to a $12,250 Public Facility Rental Deposit.

The agreement also included event management terms and conditions such as use of the Guercio Ball Field, the Fisherman’s lot, parking, debris, and trash. It also includes on-site security and crowd management, preferably by a bonded security company, to be provided by the Licensee at the Licensor’s Property.

According to Town staff, both parties feel this is appropriate. Trustee Eric Coombs Esmail said this has been vetted by the Nederland Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board, and this was a compromise. The Town needs a better process.

Sarah Martin with the Festival said outside of Nederland they are very well known, but she doesn’t see a huge future for the festival, because they can’t pay for the deposits and large events have large needs.

After the Board agreed to the license agreement, Trustees said they should discuss this further and find ways to make it more affordable. Mayor Kristopher Larsen said: “How excited we are to have this come back.”

Upcoming Elections

The next municipal election will be on April 5, 2022. All election documents can be accessed on the Town website effective January 4, 2022: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/. Trustees with terms ending in April 2022 are Mayor Larsen and trustees Apt, Corvalan, and Danforth.

Mayor Larsen is currently in his third term as Mayor and therefore is only eligible to seek election as a Trustee. Nomination Petitions were released on Tuesday, January 4, and are due to the Town Clerk by 5 p.m. on Monday, January 24. Affidavits for Write-In Candidates must be submitted to the Town Clerk by Monday, January 31.

The next Nederland Board of Trustees meeting will be virtual on January 18, 2022. For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=391.