Jennifer Livingston, Nederland. The entire Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) was in attendance last Tuesday November 12, 2019, at 7 p.m. in the Nederland Community Center. The Consent agenda was passed and included rolling the recall of Mayor Kristopher Larson, Trustee Julie Gustafson and Trustee Dallas Masters into the regular election of April 7, 2020. 

Kathleen Chippi held a sign saying “shame” in capital red letters and called for the resignation of Trustee Kristin Conrad for statements made on social media. Mary Jarril derided Mayor Larson for hiring a lawyer to “thwart a legal recall”. Both loudly booed others as they testified in support of the BOT. There was an attempt to “publicly shame” community members for their opposition to STRs. One citizen testified that she hoped the “challenging times and political atmosphere … doesn’t keep anyone from running for government”. This was met with applause as others also testified in support of the BOT. 

Hansen Wendlandt, pastor at Nederland Community Presbyterian Church, made heartfelt testimony on behalf of Nederland area youth and residents, especially in times of tragedy, who may be grieving or suffering the “scourge of mental illness and addiction”. He states that there are resources available to people, and he’s happy to help people find support. He can be reached at ncpcpastor@gmail.com or phone 303-258-3579. 

Chris Current, Executive Director of the Nederland Food Pantry (NFP) sought BOT approval to apply for grant funding to build four showers, one ADA accessible, in the Nederland Community Center. Per testimony the NFPs mission is to relieve hunger and provide basic needs support for the Peak to Peak community and sees access to showers as an important way to not only serve its mission but to potentially generate some revenue for their programming. Shower access has been on the NFPs mind since the 2013 flood when it became clear that showers are needed in times of crises. Moreover, there are a number of area residents who, for a variety of reasons, do not have access to showers. 

The NFP has worked with The Nederland Community Center staff to find space that will work and create a plan. The NFP plans to utilize volunteers to monitor and maintain the public showers. Showers will be available to the public for a yet to be determined fee. Current stated that Gilpin charges eight dollars for showers, and that since the cost of water is higher in Nederland perhaps nine dollars was appropriate. Trustee Conrad believed that public showers have long been needed and would like to see a sliding scale and to subsidize the cost for people for whom eight dollars might be too much, “we need to make it accessible to everyone”.

Trustee Dallas Masters was concerned about the viability of relying on volunteers to manage the showers, indicating that the BOT may be better authorizing funds for an employee at some point. Nederland Community Center Manager Dawn Baumhover indicated that they need a third party to take care of the showers. Current also clarified that the grant in question specifies that it has to be operated by a nonprofit organization for some period of time and reiterated that the NFP would like to have proceeds from the showers. Testimony was largely in support of the showers indicating a need during times of crisis as well as for area residents and visitors without access to showers. There was some public concern regarding the serious task of monitoring and maintaining the showers, which the NFP felt they could manage with volunteers. There was a “nod of six” allowing the NFP to move forward with the project. 

Community member Annette Croughwell presented her idea of Nederland Cares About Neighborhoods (NedCAN). The idea is to create active community groups in the various Nederland neighborhoods to identify neighborhood specific issues, solutions and opportunities to support the environment, economy and community. She believes the growth of the area is having a large impact and that it’s “imperative that the people who live in town figure out what issues are really important and what we can do to help mitigate issues arising from growth”. The NedCAN groups will then work directly with the BOT to identify and solve issues, especially as the BOT does not always have representation of all neighborhoods. 

Croughwell detailed some issues she thought were pressing such as traffic through old town, speeding, pedestrian safety, off leash dogs, noise issues, and “blight” such as rubbish and unkempt vehicles etc. Her hope is that “we can all become a team and make living in Nederland a positive and healthy experience”.

Trustees Conrad, Alan Apt and Jonathan Baumhover were all supportive of the idea, seeing it was a way for the community to come together, work more closely with the BOT and deepen the sense of place and community for residents. Trustee Conrad saw an avenue to “also focus on enhancements, not just issues and problems”. Trustee Masters thought the concept would work well as an advisory board and Mayor Larson suggested that the Mayoral position should liaison as it currently does not have an advisory board assignment. A “nod of four” indicated that the BOT would continue to work with Croughwell on the idea. 

Nicole Ferdinandsen testified that the Biosolids project has “reached substantial completion” and they are ready to do an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony. They welcome members of the public to come and tour the facility and indicated that private tours could also be arranged. A firm date and time for that were unavailable prior to press but the tentative date was the morning of December 7, 2019.  

Ferdinandsen also discussed efforts to install solar at the facility. There is a grant available, for which the total cost would be $250,000, the Town would need to match 50%, and there is a 0% loan the Town could use for what would be the $125,000 match. The grant deadline is early December and the conversation resulted in the BOT requesting more information including data on electricity use by the new facility, in order to look at the return on investment of installing local solar vs purchasing solar via the existing contract with Oak Leaf Energy Partners. 

Jennifer Hagey, Town Treasurer presented the Financial Audit to the BOT and held hearing and public comment on the 2020 Draft Budget. Notable was the Visitor Center running at a consistent $20,000 deficit, yet the BOT recognized continued efforts of staff to reverse the situation and the important benefits including public restrooms, and information and suggestion to Nederland visitors. 

Trustee Masters questioned $18,000 in the budget to implement a Micro-Hydro project that would supply some of the power required for pump stations. Trustee Masters wanted more information on the return on investment and “evidence we should be using [Micro-Hydro]”. Ferdinandsen related that in addition to potential cost savings, the project was intended to assist Nederland in meeting the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2025. There is a study pending that will provide clarity to the BOT, and grant money available. The BOT may be able to use the supplemental budget to infuse funds for the project should the study results be favorable. 

Discussion included fee setting for Short Term Rental (STR) licensing. The suggested $500 annual fee was met with derision. Town staff indicated that the licensing for liquor and marijuana licenses were $575 annually and that the regulation and monitoring of STRs will actually be more labor intensive. Town staff indicated that there are around 85 STRs in business in Nederland. Staff will return to BOT with more information on actual cost fee comparisons. 

The BOT continued to discuss Planned Investment Fee (PIF) increases as the current rates will not support actual costs and do not account for differences in uses between homes, sizes of homes, and commercial use. Trustee Masters had revisited previous information and discussion from Public Works and Planning Commission and joins many on the BOT who are in favor of moving forward with rate increases based on an old rate study indicating Nederland is far below cost recovery. Trustee Conrad would like to ensure rate increases don’t discourage the development of affordable housing, which Town staff did not believe would happen. Rates will be revisited after a new study is completed sometime in the next year. 

The meeting of the Nederland BOT adjourned at 10:30 p.m. The audio recording, agenda and agenda packet for this and all BOT meetings are available on the Town of Nederland’s Website. 

(Originally published in the November 7, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)