John Scarffe, Nederland.  A project seeking to control noxious weeds while also providing public outreach and education on noxious weed control received approval from the Nederland Board of Trustees during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19, in the Nederland Community Center. The Board also corrected a zoning error for the Nederland Historical Society and appointed members to the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA).

The Board approved the consent agenda, which included canceling the July 3 Board meeting for the Fourth of July holiday. It also included a resolution allowing the DDA to borrow funds, in the amount of $1,900.00, from the Town’s Water Fund, to be paid back from 2017 debt authorization funds, to pay for a Noxious Weed Control project in 2018.

In 2017, the Town and DDA passed a DDA Master Plan, and these types of projects are indicated in the plan under Downtown Beautification and Maintenance, according to background. Downtown Beautification and Maintenance is in line with the DDA’s Plan of Development, a document that governs all expenditures within the district and further described in its Master Plan, as well as identified priorities of the DDA and the Board of Trustees, furthering the Master Infrastructure Plan, Comprehensive Plan and other elements of the #NedZero program.

The DDA Board of Directors approved the project unanimously at its June 11, 2018, meeting, containing the scope and budget for the Noxious Weed Control project. ‘The DDA, in line with its 2018 Beautification Plan, seeks to control noxious weeds while also providing public outreach and education on noxious weed control,” according to background.

The proposal totals $1,450 with a $1,900 budget total including NDDA staff time and includes public outreach and education, strategic weed eradication throughout the DDA district and a volunteer weed pull in Chipeta Park.

The proposal provided includes a savings of 50 percent (in-kind) from the firm Peak Ecological Services, LLC. The project would be conducted in 2018, and future projects will seek sustainable funding outside of NDDA funds.

During action items, the Board approved reappointments and appointments to the DDA Board. DDA Executive Director Josiah Masingale said the DDA Board recommended reappointing Amanda Kneer, a director whose term expires at the end of June. The Board also recommended filling one vacant seat and adding another with Andrea Orthner Wrobel and Steven Karowe, making the board eight members.

Their terms will expire on June 30, 2022. Masingale said it was a strong move to get more people involved in the DDA. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity added that if all eight show up, the chair will not vote except to break a tie.

Gerrity told the Board that property owned by the Nederland Historical Society was rezoned incorrectly. During a rezoning of town during an effort to create a public zone, which is public owned, a misunderstanding occurred as to who owned the property.

The Historical Society is a private organization, not public, Gerrity said. The Nederland Planning Commission thought it was absolutely the right thing to make that correction, because the process of selling the property has been stalled.

The Historical Society is seeking to rezone the parcel at 81 W. 2nd Street from the currently designated Public (P) zone to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zone, according to background. The parcel is zoned P, along with Town-owned lots and the two properties containing Prime Haven and Beaver Creek Apartments owned by Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA), which was approved by the Board on May 19, 2015.

If Ordinance 786 is approved by the Board, Town staff will rezone the parcel, according to background. The error occurred due to confusion regarding the ownership of the property. The intention was to rezone publicly owned parcels to P. Since the parcel in question is owned by a private, nonprofit, it was rezoned to Public in error.

Board Member Kristen Conrad said she did not find any red flags, and Mayor Kristopher Larsen said it is a clear case of fixing errors. Gerrity said it takes a while to officially codify the change, but once signed here it’s official. “We are all so aware of this, we will make sure a copy of the ordinance gets in the file.”

Board Member Jonathon Baumhover, liaison to the Nederland Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Advisory Board (PROSAB), told the Board he stumbled on an article on 9 News about Summit County actions regarding fire bans on camping areas. The County was able to oppose a three-year ban for campfires in recreation areas.

That’s something Nederland has requested from the U.S. Forest Service, so they want to get in touch with the county and find out how the process went, Baumhover said. PROSAB recommends sending a response as a town and discussing taking this Summit County recommendation as well as providing the Boulder County Ranger District with the language and plan of what they would like as our response to the last letter.

PROSAB wanted to bring it to the floor of this Board to bring up a better discussion, Baumhover said. The two-year ban, when we’re not in a fire ban, would reduce the use in that area.

The negative is it might drive users further into the forest. They also have identified it as a no shooting area, Baumhover said. Going forward, the Board needs to decide whether they want to ban campfires or just camping. There is a strong precedent to ban camp fires.

The issues of illegal camping and campfire activity within the West Magnolia Recreation area has been a cause for concern for many years within the Nederland community and greater Nederland Area, according to background. This issue and related concerns has been brought before the U.S. Forest Service Boulder Ranger District many times during the past two to four years.

After many hours of discussion at various meetings and numerous correspondence, not much legislative or management practices have changed or been made in regards to this issue, according to background. “While the direct impact and change in recreational behavior may not result from the enactment of said Prohibition Order, it would provide teeth and legal recourse for local law enforcement and overtime may help impact user behavior,” according to background.

This proposal would be a great response to the last letter received from Forest Service Representative Angela Gee regarding this issue.

“Essentially this proposal is akin to the Town of Nederland taking the bull by the horns and providing the Boulder Ranger District with the language, scope of area, legal precedence, and already written Prohibition Order for them to take and choose to take action or not.

“It is a very direct response, which would leave the ball in their court to take steps they have available to them to address Town and resident concerns or push the issue to the back burner.”

Larsen said imposing a shooting ban would be a good goal for the area. Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Gustafson said this isn’t an isolated problem, because 193 million acres are managed by Forest Service. Public lands have a lot of pressure and threat to the land, but putting up barriers in the way, she worries about chipping away at access and using our shared resources.

Gustafson is not convinced the problem is from camping. The area has been mitigated. “We don’t know where it will go if we make it difficult to use. They won’t go away and will still use it.”

It’s important to do outreach, and Gustafson thinks that is working. “I’m not sure we’ve explored all the options that may or may not come from an area with a prohibition.”

Town Marshall Larry Johns reminded her that the only district ranger for enforcement retired and hasn’t been replaced. A little over a year ago, the Board supported mitigation through Forsythe II, and at the time, the Town had a better relationship with the Forest Service, because following that decision, the Forest Service has moved its only fire engine over to Clear Creek every day.

“We’re trying to do our part to address the planet and the environment, and they are driving the fire truck all the way to Gilpin County every day,” Gustafson said. “Our communications stream with the Forest Service has been stressed”.

“We need to work on that. They should have a calendar for when they are going to rewrite the plan for managing the forests and that would be the best time to create changes in the management of the land,” she said.

Baumhover said they have started the preliminary work, but it is a very long process. “This seems to be a little bit contentious. We are having a long conversation with the Forest Service about where they are going. The Forest Service is doing a lot. We’re just not hearing a lot of communication.”

Conrad she has been working on this issue for about three years. More than three years ago, they asked the Board about this problem with transients, and the Town has a problem with that set of people who are driving out others.

“We have residents who are upset about not being able to enjoy the area,” Conrad said. “They are already all over the place in the woods. We have already lost that battle. West Magnolia would be a good test site for new ideas”.

“No open fires but using camp stoves. Another good idea is how can we ticket these people? They move around. You have to catch a person. They said ‘I just got here,’ so we have no way of providing law enforcement”.

“We should make contacts with them and find out who they are and how they got here. I wouldn’t want to shut it down,” Conrad said.

Larsen said they have invited Angela Gee to the meeting on July 17 for an informational item. His concern is building relationships, and the meeting on July 17 would be a great time to bring this up. He also would like to find a way to invite her to PROSAB meetings.

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, in the multi-purpose room at the Nederland Community Center.