John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved signage requiring the use of face masks by all employees and customers of businesses in town during a virtual, online meeting on May 5, 2020. The Board also approved a transportation improvement plan for design and engineering services and project oversite plan for Nederland downtown sidewalks and discussed an occupational tax on short-term lodging.

To begin the meeting, Mayor Kristopher Larsen provided an update on the Coronavirus, COVID-19. He received exciting news in the last 15 minutes before the meeting. Congressman Joe Neguse helped with a bill for $250 billion in relief for small towns. Now he has sufficient support, and it will help offset costs Nederland is seeing. It does need to be approved by the Senate. 

Also, Metro Mayors recommended that Colorado do some kind of recognition on May 20, 2020, for graduating seniors who are missing out on signing yearbooks and other events. They hope to have more news to celebrate high school seniors who are missing out on a lot.

Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said the Boulder County Stay at Home order expires Friday night at midnight, May 8, 2020, and will transition to Safer at Home. For assistance with the Town, reach out to staff through the website or email Gerrity. 

Staff is working on guidelines and applications for folks who want to put on special events and how to abide by the orders they need to follow. Sergeant Jennifer Fine-Loven has taken on the role of public information officer for the Nederland Police Department and participates in conference calls for first responders a few times a week as well. 

Gerrity is also participating in weekly conference calls with the P2PHHS alliance to assess needs of area residents due to the pandemic and gaps in services provided by nonprofits and government entities. Most providers say they are getting the funding, volunteers and other resources needed to provide relief. 

Regarding area campgrounds, the United States Forest Service District Ranger stated: “At this time, only our developed campgrounds are closed. This applies across the forest, but specifically on the Boulder Ranger District this includes Meeker, Olive Ridge, Camp Dick, Peaceful Valley, Pawnee, Rainbow Lakes and Kelly Dahl campgrounds. 

“This closure is currently in place until the end of May, but that could be modified should conditions warrant it. All other dispersed camping, whether that be just in the general forest area or in our designated dispersed camping areas of West Magnolia, Gordon Gulch, Caribou, and Winiger Ridge, is currently allowed, though we have been temporarily discouraging recreational use of the Forest and Grasslands due to COVID-19. In addition to the campground closures, other developed facilities such as bathrooms at trailheads and picnic areas are also closed through the end of May.”

During discussion items, the Board considered a Public Health Mask Order. In a memo to the Board, Mayor Larsen wrote, “As we move from the Colorado Stay-at-Home order to ‘Safer at Home,’ it remains incumbent upon all of us to continue to take all steps we can to protect ourselves, our families and our neighbors. 

“This means continuing to minimize our trips away from home and maintaining social distancing when we are out. In addition, like many other communities in Boulder County, Nederland is also considering requiring the use of face masks by all employees and customers of businesses in town.” He asked if the Board of Trustees if they wanted to implement a public health mask order.

Larsen told the Board he put this item on the agenda last week before Boulder County posted their order. He suggested requiring all people in public to wear masks beginning on May 9. The trustees agreed that the “Safer at Home” state and county orders sufficed and they didn’t need to implement a Nederland specific order regarding masks.  

Nederland has been doing a good job of staying in sequence with the County, Larsen said, and the Town will help with enforcement and acquiring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for those who don’t have masks. The Trustees agreed and said anything Boulder County does precludes anything the Town does on its own, but the Town needs to help the store owners with signage. 

Gerrity said staff does have graphics and a portal to access to create signage, which could be sent to business owners. Larsen said he would like to work with Town staff to get signage out, because it is a clear problem, He would like to make graphics available by this weekend, and the Board agreed.

Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier presented a request to approve a task order for design and engineering services, project oversite and planning for a multi-modal sidewalk from Town Hall to the RTD Park-n-Ride and on Jefferson Street in front of Kathmandu. Nederland was awarded $1.5 million for a Transportation Improvement Program in September 2019. 

The project consists of a multi-modal sidewalk from Town Hall to the RTD Park-n-Ride and on Jefferson Street in front of Kathmandu. The project will also include electric charging stations and bike racks. 

This project is a collaboration with the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (DDA). The Nederland Board recently approved On-Call Engineering services with JVA Inc., on April 21. The first step in beginning the design and planning process is to issue a task order to the Town’s engineers to begin the planning and design process. 

On May 15, 2019, the DDA voted to approve an additional $70,000 for a total of $139,000 to fund Jefferson Street and the Visitor Center Parking lot improvements, and on September 4, 2019, Nederland’s TIP Project was awarded $1.5 Million. On February 4, 2020, the Trustees voted to approve the intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation for the TIP project.

Pelletier told the Board that the TIP project is funded by federal and state dollars. Nederland is a member of the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), which includes a variety of counties including Boulder County and the entire front range. DRCOG has a regional transportation grant, and Nederland adopted a plan and goals of funding within the plan to reduce single occupancy vehicles, gashouse emissions and other goals. 

The sidewalk will connect to Boulder County affordable housing and reduces traffic, Pelletier said. It aligns with economic vitality leading from the RTD directly to downtown, and it aligns with Nederland’s existing plans and the Master Infrastructure Plan.

The next step is to approve issuing a task order for a proposal for staff to evaluate and be sure prices are reasonable and then provide the final project. They recommend using sustainable materials, fast charging electric stations, bicycle racks and signage. 

Trustees expressed concerns about another sidewalk project since the last one turned out so badly, and why moving toward new sidewalk project instead of better than roads? Pelletier said they are asking about conventional concrete multimodal sidewalks. For the most part it will be third party, and engineers will provide oversight. Pelletier explained that the TIP funds can’t be used for local roads so that needed to be removed from the grant application and the DDA stepped in to provide the funding to improve Jefferson Street and the Visitor Center parking lot. 

Trustees said it is exciting the Town is moving forward with this project and grant and were in favor of releasing this to JVA. The Board approved the request.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen introduced a discussion on first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 4 of the Nederland Municipal Code to add a new article for an occupation tax on short-term rentals. A final version of the ordinance will be presented to the Board for action and approval on May 19, 2020. 

If the ordinance is adopted, the occupation tax will be in effect on July 1, 2020. At the January 21 Board meeting, the Trustees approved a resolution authorizing a ballot question for the registered electors of Nederland to decide whether to approve an occupation tax on short-term lodging in Nederland. 

On April 7, 2020, at the regular election, a majority of registered electors approved an occupation tax on short-term lodging in Nederland. Because the majority of registered electors approved a new occupation tax, this ordinance implements the voter-approved occupation tax on short-term lodging with the Town. 

The occupation tax is applied to lodging that is rented for less than 30 days and is imposed on any person who furnishes any hotel room, motel room, short-term rental, or other similar accommodation for a period of less than 30 days within the Town in the amount of $2.00 per day per occupied bedroom or per other accommodation with defined bedrooms. “Bedroom shall mean a room in lodging that is used for sleeping and that contains at least one bed or sleeper sofa. 

Garages, kitchens, bathrooms, dining rooms are deemed not to be bedrooms for this definition. Lodging shall mean hotel rooming unit, motel rooming unit, short-term rental, or other accommodations that are rented to persons for periods less than 30 days.

Short-term rental means the rent for any form of consideration of a dwelling, dwelling unit, accessory dwelling unit, or portion of any dwelling unit to a particular person or persons for periods of time less than 30 days. A short-term rental is a use that is accessory to the primary or principal use of such dwelling or dwelling unit. 

Short-term rental does not apply to or include commercial hotels or motels. The draft ordinance provides for a process for collecting the tax and gives the Town Administrator the authority to provide more detailed procedures for the collection of the tax. 

All revenues collected for the occupation tax must be used for health and human services activities and law enforcement services. The registered electors approved the allocation of revenue proceeds for those specific purposes. 

The ordinance also provides several different mechanisms for enforcement and collection of unpaid taxes. Madsen told the Trustees that the process will allow the ordinance to be effective on July 1. 

The key components cannot be changed without going back to the voters, but the Board can make changes to the collection process and enforcement. They could make changes to add more detail to how the revenue will be allocated, and for example 50 percent could be health and human services and the other 50 percent for law enforcement. Then they will have to spend that money that way.

The Board agreed they would like more specificity as to where the money can be spent. Mayor Larsen said he’d like each trustee to look at the language and send proposals to Town staff about how they might want to define human services, and staff can integrate that over the next two weeks for passage on May 19.

The Nederland Board of Trustees will meet next on May 19, 2020.

(Originally published in the May 14, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)