The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at 7 p.m. to make their final decision regarding new Short Term Rental regulations. The Board also discussed potential changes to municipal code that would require local businesses to provide wastewater pretreatment.

Trustees first approved the Employment Agreement for the Town of Nederland’s choice for new Town Administrator Jonathan Cain. Cain’s employment with the Town will begin on July 8.

The BOT also approved an intergovernmental agreement with Boulder County, granting the Town of Nederland use and control of the ballot drop-off box at the Nederland Community Center from July 8 to August 1.

The Board also approved a contract with Raftelis to complete a water and wastewater rate study. The cost of the study was stipulated not to exceed $30,000, which the BOT had previously approved in their 2024 Town Budget.

Raftelis was previously contracted by the Town of Nederland to complete a rate study in 2021.

Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek presented the latest updates regarding the development of a Tourism Management Strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to create sustainable tourism initiatives through collaborative work with other Town boards, and with the Colorado Tourism Office, as part of their Destination Blueprint program.

Cacek had previously presented the plan to the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board, the Sustainability Advisory Board, and the Planning Commission in order to receive feedback and suggestions regarding the plan’s listed goals and the recommended strategies to achieve them.

These goals include engaging the community and business stakeholders; educating and managing tourists; promoting businesses and local experiences; improving the tourist/community experience; and instituting tourism governance and partnerships.

The strategies listed include creating communication platforms for both tourists and local businesses to distribute informational material; building awareness and engagement for tourism and marketing initiatives; managing tourism while protecting the Town’s culture through collaborative efforts; and establishing and utilizing a system to monitor the impacts of tourism.

Cacek detailed that it would be his responsibility in the first year to implement the strategies and goals within the plan, while the Town Administrator will monitor the progress of that implementation.

No strategies or goals discussed outside the Tourism Management Strategy will be developed during that first year; Cacek, along with the Town Administrator, will determine what tourism measures will be expanded upon in the second year.

Commissioners had earlier stated that local interests, such as the Town’s road and sidewalk infrastructure, should take priority over initiatives focused on tourists and tourism.

Commissioners also expressed that the plan should aim to satisfy locals’ and tourists’ needs simultaneously, and that the goals and strategies listed within the plan require a process for being measured for success.

Trustee Luke Miller asked how Cacek plans to utilize public engagement to gather data on how best to move forward with tourism initiatives. Cacek specified that resident surveys would be circulated every year or two, that engagement with tourists would be conducted through the Visitor’s Center, and that data would also be gathered from the Town’s websites.

Trustee Tierney Maris suggested that the Tourism Management Strategy include measurable “indicators” to determine the success of public engagement, specifically on social media.

Trustee Kristopher Larsen asked what particular initiatives were omitted from the strategy that Cacek felt were important. Cacek noted that he felt developing a Tourism Advisory Board would be helpful to the implementation of the strategy, though the previous BOT had refused to do so.

Once Cacek has met with all of Nederland’s advisory boards he will compile the feedback and edit the draft of the strategy, and will then begin gathering feedback from the community to ensure that the guiding document serves locals’ interests.

Interim Town Administrator Nicki Dunn presented a quarterly update on the Town’s 21 current grants, nine of which Nederland partners with another entity. Dunn also provided information regarding two grants that Town staff are actively pursuing.

Of the 21 current grants only two have been completed so far.

The Department of Local Affairs grant that awarded $120,000 in funding for the installation of a grit removal system at Nederland’s Water Treatment Plant is considered to be complete. The system was installed in January, with the project budget totalling $400,000.

The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) grant that awarded $20,000, with a $5,000 match from the Town, for the creation of a branding and creative identity campaign was also complete. The campaign and “brand book,” created by Godot creative consultancy, was submitted to CTO in April.

Town staff is currently pursuing a Water Storage and Supply grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which is due in July. A Great Outdoors Colorado grant is also being pursued by the Town to “reimagine” and improve the Nederland Ice Rink and Tennis Park.

The Board then voted on Ordinance 859, which aims to amend Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 6, Article V, changing and adding to the Town’s Short Term Rental (STR) regulations and licensing structure.

The ordinance contains various revisions, including requiring the STR property to be the licensee’s primary residence; requiring the owner to notify all neighbors within 300 feet of a residence where an STR license application is being filed; instituting a cap on STR licenses; requiring a minimum of four documented stays; requiring bear-proof trash receptacles; imposing a ban on fire pits; and allowing the Town Clerk to administer penalties for violations of the code.

During their June 4 meeting, Trustees directed Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen to add provisions to the ordinance to prohibit any owner or partner in a corporate entity that owns a STR license from being able to own a separate license as an individual; to increase the general STR cap from 60 to 70, which also affects Class C licenses; to have LLCs provide ownership paperwork and letters of incorporation when applying for a license; and to grandfather in one existing STR in an Industrial zone while prohibiting any other Class C STRs to operate in Industrial zones.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen specified that all currently active STR licenses will be grandfathered and can be renewed as is, though they cannot be transferred to a new property owner.

An additional amendment was added to prorate the number of required documented stays for the remainder of the year for any STR license that is up for renewal under the new regulations.

The BOT voted to approve Ordinance 859.

Nederland’s Utilities Manager Andrew Bliss led Trustees in a discussion concerning the draft of Ordinance 864, amending Article II of Chapter 13 of NMC, which dictates regulations related to the pretreatment of wastewater. The amendments to NMC would require certain local businesses to provide “grease traps/interceptors and pretreatment for industrial discharges.”

These regulations, drafted by the Town’s engineering firm JVA, are intended to bring the Town into compliance with its wastewater effluent discharge permit, administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and in adherence with the Clean Water Act.

Bliss added that the removal of harmful waste prior to it reaching the wastewater treatment plant helps the plant to operate more efficiently and “prolong the need for an expensive plant expansion.”

Though the Board is not expected to vote on the ordinance until their July 16 meeting, Town staff will be contacting those businesses that will be impacted by the code changes prior to that meeting.

The Agenda Information Memorandum, prepared by Bliss, states: “these changes will apply to existing and new facilities. However, staff will not require physical improvements at existing facilities unless necessary.”

The BOT discussed the draft application form to be released by the Town of Nederland for organizations who provide youth programming to apply for funding awarded to Nederland from the sale of the Denver Broncos. The Town received 2% of the net profit of the sale, totalling $21,762.43.

The Town defines youth programming as pertaining to “health, mental health, and wellbeing,” “education and life skills,” “sports and physical activity,” and “arts, nature, science, technology, engineering, math, and e-sports.”

Trustees approved the release of the application.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 2, 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.