The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 7 p.m. to discuss the Keeping Animals Ordinance. This update to Town code is aimed to further regulate the keeping of domestic pets and livestock.

The BOT first heard presentations on the Town of Nederland’s Comprehensive Plan update and on the Multimodal Transportation Plan. Both major projects are currently underway and are expected to present results to the Board before the end of the year.

The Town of Nederland contracted with Fehr & Peers on June 6, 2023, to create a Multimodal Transportation Plan, funded by the Denver Regional Council of Governments as part of their Fiscal Year 2022-2025 Transportation Improvement Program.

Carly Sieff of Fehr & Peers delivered an update to the Board, having completed the first phase of their public outreach and analysis of the Town’s existing conditions, and moving into developing recommended policies, projects, and programs to be delivered to the Board over the summer. The project is expected to be completed by Fall of 2024.

As for the existing conditions, Fehr & Peers gathered data on Nederland’s traffic patterns, posted speed limits, and the level of stress for drivers and pedestrians. They also mapped the Town’s sidewalks and pedestrian and bicycle trails. The data also highlighted crash patterns, with the most common crash type being rear-end collisions, and the most concentrated area for crashes being the roundabout.

Parking data was also collected over different extremes in traffic flow through town, including a very slow day on a weekday, early in the morning; and during a very busy Farmers Market Harvest Fest in the middle of leaf peeping season.

Fehr & Peers engaged with the community by attending local events and by releasing an online survey. Sieff noted that they engaged with up to 300 Nederland residents. The biggest concerns reported by the community were about the state of the town’s crosswalks and sidewalks, and the maintenance of the town’s roads.

The guiding principles formed from the community outreach were a focus on sustainability, and to make driving, bicycling, and walking through Nederland safe and reliable. Sieff also read the vision statement inspired from the outreach:

“Nederland’s transportation system is safe and accessible for users of all ages and abilities. Travelers in Nederland have equitable access to various and sustainable modes of transportation through a connected network of trails, sidewalks, and roadways.

“All modes of transportation including walking, rolling, biking, riding transit, and driving are convenient, reliable and are supported by programs and policies that can adapt to emerging mobility and technology.”

The next steps for Fehr & Peers is identifying the gaps in Nederland’s sidewalk and trail systems, upgrading the roundabout, conducting studies on how a traffic light would affect that congested area of traffic, and drafting policies and program ideas.

Trustee Luke Miller asked if Fehr & Peers were taking into consideration the proposal to create a second bridge across Middle Boulder Creek, to which Sieff answered that they were running data on all the potential second bridge locations. Trustee Tania Corvalan asked for Fehr & Peers to look into creating a pedestrian underpass beneath Highway 119 near the Visitors Center intersection.

On September 5, 2023, the Board approved the Town contracting with SE Group for $200,000, half of which is covered by the Department of Local Affairs’ Mineral Impact Assistance Fund grant, for the drafting of a Comprehensive Plan update.

Ayden Eickhoff of SE Group presented results from their recent online survey conducted with the public, as well as updating the Board on conversations shared during an online workshop held on Wednesday, March 13.

Both the results of the online survey, the Subarea Plan workshop, and the next steps for SE Group are covered in-depth in the article “SE Group focuses on Nederland redevelopment” elsewhere in this edition of The Mountain-Ear.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mahowald asked if SE Group were considering alternative housing types such as tiny home villages, to which Eickhoff answered that they had researched Accessory Dwelling Units, acknowledging that they are not similar, and stating that they will look into tiny homes.

Corvalan asked that SE Group consider allowing open-ended responses in their surveys either in addition to or opposed to only multiple choice answers, and asked if there was a direct email for residents to send their questions, ideas, and feedback. Eickhoff answered that there was opportunity for the public to give open-ended responses on several questions within the survey, and Town Administrator Miranda Fisher specified that residents can ask questions about the Comprehensive Plan directly on the Engage Nederland hub within the Town of Nederland’s official website.

Fisher led the BOT through a presentation regarding the Town’s grants, from those received with conditions yet to be fulfilled to those the Town is considering applying for.

Nederland is currently invested in fulfilling the conditions for 12 different grants, as well as eight grants for which the Town has partnered with another entity. The presentation by Fisher and Town staff also indicated five grants being considered for the future, awaiting Trustee approval.

The Town has $189,342 remaining in American Rescue Plan Act funds, and has until December, 2026 to spend it. $40,000 has been allocated as matching funds for a broadband project, and $124,342 has been allocated for affordable housing development.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $524,793.75 grant, with a $174,931.25 match from Town, for the creation of an emergency egress route out of Big Springs. Fisher stated that the Town expected a route to be identified and designed by December, 2024.

The Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) awarded Nederland $100,000, with a $100,000 match, for the drafting of a Comprehensive Plan update, which has an anticipated completion date of December, 2024.

Level 3 Electric Vehicle fast chargers need to be installed by October, 2024, in order for the Town to be reimbursed $40,000 from Xcel Energy, and $50,000 from the Charge Ahead grant.

DOLA awarded partial funds towards a $400,000 project budget for the installation of a grit removal system, which was installed in January, 2024.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) awarded Nederland $175,000, with a $23,000 match split between the Town and the Nederland Downtown Development Authority for the creation of the Multimodal Transportation Plan. The project is expected to be complete by July, 2024.

The Town was awarded $167,890 from DOLA to cover the full-time salary of a co-responder to accompany Boulder County Sheriff’s Office officers on calls. Fisher noted that the Town has applied for another year of funding, as the current funds expire this June.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) provided Nederland with $280,000, with an additional $70,000 from the NDDA, for the much delayed Safer Main Streets project. Fisher noted that review and approval of the crosswalk plans from CDOT are needed in order to proceed. The project is expected to be completed by May, 2025, with the Town currently on their third extension for completing the grant requirements.

The Statewide Internet Portal Authority awarded Nederland $3,000 to digitize their records, with the first phase of the project expected to be completed by September, 2024.

The Town received $15,000 from Boulder County (BOCO) as part of their Environmental Sustainability Matching Grant program to pay the part-time salary for a Sustainability Coordinator. The position would need to be funded internally by 2026.

DRCOG, in collaboration with CDOT, awarded the Town $1.5 million dollars for the funding of a Transportation Improvement Project, consisting of sidewalk creation, road paving, and EV charging stations. The project must be completed by June, 2025, but is experiencing delays due to the same reason for the delay of the Safer Main Streets project.

The Colorado Tourism Office awarded Nederland $20,000, with a $5,000 match from the Visitors Center budget, for a branding and creative identity campaign, completed by Godot Communications Inc. The contract with Godot specified that a “mini-documentary” would be completed as part of the brand identity. However, as a result of the extra time spent on solidifying a logo design, the documentary will not be completed. The grant requirements must be fulfilled by the end of April, 2024.

The Town is partnered with other entities for eight different grants, including a BOCO grant with the Peak-to-Peak Housing & Human Services Alliance for mental health training programs and inperson mental health training sessions; an $8,667,692 grant with Gilpin County for the installation of broadband internet; and other grants to tackle issues of water conservation, wildfire mitigation, and climate pollution.

Fisher introduced five potential grants that Town staff will be recommending for Board approval. The first was Congressionally Directed Spending awarded by Senator Michael Bennet and Senator John Hickenlooper, which the Town had unsuccessfully applied for before, for a feasibility assessment on where a second bridge should be constructed, and for the construction of the bridge.

The Board were asked if they would support the Town reapplying for the $3.5 million in funds for the second bridge project, to which a nod of four in approval was given. The match required from Town would be $875,000 and would have to come from the Town’s reserves.

The other grants being considered regard improvements to the NedRINK, funding the salary for a housing coordinator, and replacing the crusher fine sidewalks in the downtown area. An Economic Vitality grant from BOCO to help mitigate the costs to local businesses for Nederland enforcing the state’s plastic bag and styrofoam fee was also suggested, to which the BOT gave a nod of four.

Trustees discussed the most recent draft of Ordinance 852, which would repeal and replace Article V and VI of Chapter 7 of Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) with edited, and additional, regulations for animals and domestic livestock. The ordinance would also amend sections 16 - 6 and 16 - 32 of Chapter 16 of NMC.

Trustee Nichole Sterling questioned, in relation to pet owners failing to clean their animal’s refuse, who the burden of proof fell on and what evidence would be required. Community Planner Britt DeMinck and Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen specified that in order for regulations to be enforced by animal control in such a case, the person filing the complaint would need to provide hard proof, such as a picture or third-party witness.

One view expressed during public comment was that the new regulatory language was unnecessary and was an example of Nederland encroaching on individual rights, while another view expressed that the regulations were helping to make Nederland a safer and friendlier place to live.

Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail felt that the ordinance, as written, was in some cases too vague and restrictive, and was less about health and safety of the animals and more about arbitrarily regulating to mitigate what he felt were minor annoyances and grievances. Coombs-Esmail indicated that the six-foot leash law and defining a dog barking for five minutes as a “nuisance” were too excessive for Nederland.

The BOT also discussed whether restricting animal ownership based on a set number, rather than based on the size of the land, was being too restrictive. Trustees mostly disagreed and discussed continuously whether the language in the ordinance was either “too vague” or “too arbitrary.” Ultimately, what was to be considered actual nuisances worthy of enforcement was found to be too subjective.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. A newly elected Board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.