John Scarffe, Nederland. During the past 10 years, the Town of Nederland and its Board of Trustees have been using a document called Vision 2020 as the master plan to move the Town forward toward the plan’s established goals. Now, the town is exploring goals for the next ten years with Envision 2030. 

In September, Town staff is focusing on community feedback with a survey asking residents to identify the Town’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). 

Town Clerk Miranda Fisher said that to obtain community feedback, staff planned an open house on Saturday, September 5, from 9 a.m. to noon at Chipeta Park. 

One person came to provide responses to Envision 2030. Mayor Kristopher Larsen and Trustee Lindsey Danforth stopped by as well and engaged with three people. 

Town staff will be available to meet with residents regarding the SWOT survey at the farmer’s markets on September 13 and 27, 2020, and the Harvest Fest on October 4. Fisher said the Town has received 38 responses to the survey so far. 

People can fill out the online survey or call the Town to answer questions. They also can come to town hall within hours.

The community online survey can be accessed on the Town’s website: https://nederlandco.org/envision-2030/. Phone community members can call Town staff at 303-258-3266 to verbally provide their responses to the questions. Answers will be entered into the online survey by Town staff.

The Town is also asking for feedback regarding a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant that could be used for Barker Meadows Park. The Town offered a Socially Distant Walk through Barker Meadows Park Space on Friday, September 4, 2020, at 10 a.m., and one resident attended. 

On September 5, Four people attended the Town Open House to talk about the Barker Meadows park plan with Parks Lead Nicki Dunn from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Dunn said the COCO grant can be used to redo bathrooms, including two at Barker Meadows by the electrical shed at a cost of $30,000 each. It also could be used for irrigation and landscaping and widening the trail from the Wier Bridge to the Barker Meadows parking lot. They will not be working on an amphitheater at this time. 

The Nederland Parks, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) plans on applying for funding through GOCO’s Resilient Communities Program (RCP). Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) is offering grants for needs that have emerged in response to the pandemic within the context of their five program values: resource conservation, outdoor stewardship, community vitality, equitable access and youth connections.

Nederland parks have seen a dramatic increase in visitors and the resulting impacts this year. PROSAB’s goal is to reduce damaging impacts by providing more options for park visitors to spread out and to restore the natural area along Barker Reservoir shoreline into a usable recreation space. 

Funding will also be sought to refit the bathrooms at Chipeta Park in order to meet COVID-19 requirements and reopen. PROSAB and Teens, Inc., are working to involve and hire youth throughout the process from input to construction. 

An emphasis on multi-use, shared community space and equitable access means that PROSAB is focusing on achieving the priority improvements from the 2013 Gateway Park Master Plan: ADA accessible trails, native trees, drought tolerant grasses, natural play spaces and other low-maintenance features like doggie waste stations, benches and picnic tables.

The Town has a webpage dedicated to the GOCO Resilient Communities Grant which has the draft grant application narrative, budget, timeline and maps at https://nederlandco.org/goco-resilient-communities-grant/.

(Originally published in the September 10, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)