The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, to discuss the power outage inflicted on the Town by Xcel Energy. Trustees also voted on whether to approve a subdivision of six lots for potential future recreational development.

The BOT first held a closed Executive Session to “receive legal advice concerning the Town’s water court diligence application, the Town’s statements of opposition to Eldora Ski Area’s water court application, participation of Save our World’s Rivers as an opposer in Water Court, and to receive legal advice concerning the Town’s Resolution 2021-11(A), as well as to determine positions relative to water rights matters that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategies for such negotiations, and instructing negotiators accordingly.”

Within her monthly report, Town Administrator Miranda Fisher announced her resignation, effective May 24, 2024. Applications for the position are currently being accepted with a due date of May 3. Parks Manager Nicki Dunn will be filling in as interim Town Administrator, with her training beginning April 29, and the position officially beginning on May 25.

The Board heard from Fisher and Sheriff Curtis Johnson, who presented the proposal from the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) to increase their regulatory fee for 911 phone calls from $0.75 to $1.25 per month.

BRETSA manages the funding for Boulder County’s Emergency Call Centers. It is funded from monthly charges to the county’s phone users, collected by phone companies. The state average for such regulatory fees is $1.87, though there are six counties with fees lower than Boulder County’s $0.75.

The funds from the collected fees will serve to enhance such emergency telephone services as text and MMS-to-911, location accuracy to help emergency services find those in need, an emergency services IP network, Emergency Call Center systems, cybersecurity, and public alerting systems.

Mayor Billy Giblin moved to approve the $0.50 increase in BRETSAs regulatory fee. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the increase.

The BOT were tasked with voting on a minor subdivision application for the Wingate Property, a large plot of land along Highway 119, part of which had been purchased by the Town in 2000, and one parcel gifted to the Town.

On September 19, 2023, the Board approved a variance to allow the application for a subdivision of six lots to be processed as a “minor” subdivision as opposed to a “major” one, due to the conservation easements imposed on the gifted portion of the property, which prohibit development of the land.

The Planning Commission voted to recommend the application on March 27, 2024.

Fisher noted that Town staff completed an assessment of all six lots gauged against the criteria outlined in the subdivision application process. None of the lots were found to be “non-conforming,” and were then classified as low-density residential, which requires a lot size of at least 16,000 square feet. The lots are between 25,000 to 284,000 square feet.

Water and wastewater hookups are available for all six lots, though as a result of the conservation easements on the property gifted to the Town, development is only possible on the four plots still owned by Laurie Wingate. Wingate does not have any immediate development plans, though she wishes to create single-family homes for her family.

The subdivision application conforms with the guidelines set in the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Trails Master Plan and the Comprehensive Plan regarding acquiring more land for recreational opportunities and helping with trail connectivity. The Town can develop the land for recreation for trail connectivity and for possible downhill biking trails, after much-needed wildfire mitigation.

Noting a lack of discussion and questions from the Board, Trustee Kristopher Larsen called the proposal a “no-brainer.” The BOT then voted to approve the Wingate minor subdivision application.

The Town of Nederland’s Utilities Manager Andrew Bliss presented a proposal to purchase a Bobcat E88 R2 Compact Excavator for $122,386. Bliss suggested that the total cost be split evenly across the 2024 and 2025 budgets for water and sewer. Though the budget for 2024 can cover the first payment of $61,193, the BOT had to approve the 2025 budgeting for the second payment.

Mayor Pro Tem Nichole Sterling inquired about maintenance for the excavator, particularly whether Bobcat offered a discount for a maintenance package. Bliss answered that there was no discount offered by Bobcat or any of the major retailers, and detailed how daily maintenance would require the greasing of joints every eight hours, and that a full maintenance of the excavator would be required in the first 500 hours of use. Bliss determined that the excavator would not reach the 500 hours of use within 2024, so the cost of its first maintenance would need to be budgeted in 2025.

Larsen asked if the Utilities department would be sharing the equipment with the Parks and Streets departments, to which Bliss answered that interdepartmental sharing of equipment was definitely how Nederland Public Works operates.

Trustees voted to approve purchasing the equipment and budgeting for the second payment of $61,193 from the Utilities department’s 2025 budget.

Fisher presented the Board with a discussion regarding Xcel Energy’s decision to de-energize power lines during the wind storm that struck Boulder County over the weekend of April 6 and 7. Some Nederland residents were reportedly without power until Tuesday, April 9, and several businesses lost revenue and their refrigerated products.

Emergency Manager Troy Hendricks as well as Fisher were the main points of contact for the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) and remained in constant contact after being notified of the intentional power outage on Saturday, April 6, at 10 a.m. Fisher and Hendricks attended eleven Emergency Operations Center meetings to manage the event, which was close to being determined an emergency.

It was reported that 800 gallons of diesel was used to fuel the Town’s generators, with hours of Town staff time spent in constantly refueling them. Fisher noted that the Town’s communication with the community was pretty well maintained, with Facebook being used as the primary platform to immediately communicate updates on the outage. It was expressed that the Town should begin using the event management platform Everbridge, on which the Town of Nederland does have a profile.

As the use of the Nederland Community Center (NCC) as an emergency shelter is dependent on order from Boulder County and ODM, and would require resources and personnel from Red Cross, it was determined that the NCC would operate as a warming shelter for the community from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Trustee Tania Corvalan stated that opening of the NCC as a warming shelter was very helpful for the community; Fisher agreed, and explained that she, along with NCC Manager Dawn Baumhover, are developing a policy so that opening the center during such occurrences will be a common practice.

Baumhover and Fisher are also addressing the intergovernmental agreement with the Red Cross regarding the requirement that they respond to run the NCC during an emergency, as opposed to only assisting Town staff, as there are not enough Town staff for that scenario to prove efficient.

The Agenda Information Memorandum, prepared by Fisher and Hendricks, also reported that Xcel was not offering reimbursement for the expense of running generators. Fisher specified that she attempted to explain to Xcel that some of the expenses incurred by the intentional power outage are difficult for small communities like Nederland to be burdened with.

Fisher also reported that there is the potential that the Town might propose that the Board purchase portable generators for the future. She also expressed that action is being made on other fronts to attempt to prepare for the likelihood of more intentional power outages, such as getting NCCs microgrid up and running, and using funds from the Boulder Watershed Collective to institute emergency preparation outreach for the community.

Trustees discussed Ordinance 859, which amends Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 6, Article V, which dictates Short Term Rental (STR) regulations and licensing structure. The code was revised to include a requirement for the STR property to be the licensee’s primary residence and a requirement for the owner to notify all neighbors within 300 feet of a residence where an STR license application is being filed.

The ordinance includes revisions to Section 6 - 94, instituting a cap of 60 STR licenses for Nederland; Section 6 - 93, requiring a minimum of 4 documented stays; Section 6 - 95, requiring bear-proof trash receptacles and imposing a ban on fire pits; Section 6 - 96, refining in the application process that potential licensees be required to include proper documentation; Section 6 - 101, allowing the Town Clerk to administer penalties for violations of the code; and Section 6 - 104, clarifying the BOT appeal process.

The Town’s five distinct STR licensing types were narrowed down to just one, and it was determined by the Planning Commission that only property owners who are primary residents can apply for an STR license.

Sterling asked of the consequences for repeat offenders of the ordinance, and how a repeat offender is determined. Town Clerk Macy Caligaris answered that she is the one responsible for making that determination.

Caligaris explained how, depending on the severity of the complaint and whether all options for de-escalation have already been used, she would require evidence, including written complaints and photographs, in order to confer with other Town departments to determine the validity of the complaints. Once the complaint is found to be valid, then Caligaris would enact the violation process, which is a three-strike system.

Corvalan wished to see a cumulative violation fee to extend beyond a single year for certain extreme violators, instead of the fee structure resetting to the first strike at the end of a year. Trustees were generally in favor of the third violation resulting in the property owner losing their STR license for an extended amount of time, rendering their STR inactive and therefore losing their place in relation to the Town’s 60-STR cap.

Trustees were not in favor of consolidating all of the licenses under just one license type and wanted license Type C, commercial STRs, not to be lost. Trustees also did not think smaller units, like single room STRs, should count towards the 60 cap.

The Board provided Town staff with a nod of four to have four license types, from a Class A license, for non-attached Accessory Dwelling Units, to Class C, a Standard STR license, and a single-room STR license. Approval was also given for an ordinance to be brought back so the Board could vote to extend the moratorium on all STR licenses for 60 days, to provide the BOT time to finish drafting the new STR regulations to the Town code.

The Board also discussed their Rules of Procedure and their Electronic Meeting Participation Policy. Trustees were asked to review both documents and bring their feedback and suggestions for changes to Town staff.

The Board approved changing the start time of their semi-monthly meetings to 6:30 p.m. Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen will draft the changes to the Rules of Procedure and present them to the BOT for approval at a future meeting.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, 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.