John Scarffe, Nederland.   The Nederland Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors tabled a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a firm to conduct a parking, pedestrian and traffic study and plan during a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, at the Nederland Community Center. The board also discussed a Pavilion at Barker Meadows Park and a DDA mill levy extension.

During Public Comment, Ron Mitchell, who owns parking lots in downtown Nederland, told the board that he is studying a proposal to put paid parking on his lots, and he wants to work with the NDDA. He has been discussing the idea with town staff.

Executive Director Josiah Masingale introduced an RFP to select a firm to conduct a study and provide a plan regarding parking, pedestrian mobility and traffic flow in Nederland and specific to the Downtown District and the NDDA 2017 Master Plan. He suggested tabling for now.

Masingale reached out to the two firms around wayfinding, parking assessment and a paid parking plan for the downtown area. Through the 2018 DDA Prioritization Meeting in August 2018, the NDDA Board of Directors prioritized a draft RFP, which was presented to the board at the September 2018 meeting, according to the agenda information memorandum.

Several revisions were incorporated, and the board approved the RFP at the October 2018 meeting. The final RFP was released in mid-October 2018 with a submission deadline of November 30, 2018, according to the memo.

Two firms, Walker Consultants, and Traffic Engineers, Inc., submitted proposals, according to the memo. At the December 2018 NDDA Board Meeting, the board determined that presentations by the two firms would be scheduled for January 2, 2019. Both firms presented their proposals and answered questions from NDDA Board and staff.

After the presentations, the board discussed the firm’s proposals, presentations and available data and decided that both firms presented solid proposals, and they both have the necessary experience and professional capacity, according to the memo. The board noted that the 2007/2010 parking assessment might need to be updated and re-analyzed.

The board expressed concerns regarding the overall price of both proposals and the possible public perception that yet another study and plan are being developed without concrete projects being completed. The board discussed the possibility of creating a hybrid project that addresses certain issues in the short-term and continuing onto other needed projects in the future, according to the memo.

The board then decided that an update to the 2007/2010 parking assessment, a paid parking plan and wayfinding should be the immediate priorities and directed Masingale to follow-up with both firms with a thank you, a reiteration of the tight budget and the need for implementable projects to be planned through this project, request that they provide a rate sheet for services and that they provide the NDDA with quotes for wayfinding, an update to the 2007/2010 parking assessment and a paid parking plan, according to the memo.

The board also noted that the NDDA and Town could possibly take on some data collection tasks if that would help keep costs down, according to the memo. The NDDA emailed both firms and followed up with phone conversations regarding the request and is awaiting responses from both firms.

TIF funds will be used to fund some or all of this Study and Plan. The NDDA has earmarked $40,000 in its 2019 TIF budget, with the final budget contingent on the chosen firm and proposal and Town Board of Trustees approval, according to the memo.

Masingale suggested tabling it for now, and he will bring it back to the board with two responses. Board Member Mark Stringfellow said he had met with downtown property owner Ron Mitchell and Brian Zimmerman with Johnny Waldo, who manufacture and install parking meters. They can put in parking meters for six months at no charge.

“We need to have probable cause, and this would be a good way to do it at no cost,” Stringfellow said. They will come up and identify areas where meters would increase revenue for the businesses, and employees would park someplace else. They would do it over the next couple of months.

Stringfellow said he will get a proposal for the next meeting, and Masingale should follow up with two firms. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said that employees are not parking at two-hour parking spaces in the Town Hall parking lot, and the Board of Trustees thinks signage is the problem.

Board members expressed concern to be very clear that they will look at a parking study, but don’t want to be corralled into working with the firm. Stringfellow said, “What I want to see is higher traffic turn over on First Street to create a little revenue for staff, and it would be enforcement on collections.”

The board approved a motion to table the RFP until the next meeting, when they have more information. Stringfellow introduced a discussion regarding a possible pavilion at the proposed Barker Meadows Park.

Chris Pelletier with Nederland Public Works had a couple of proposals, and the town’s engineers, JVA, and another. A drawing of proposed improvements to the Park shows where a previous amphitheater was filled in with dirt from the NedPeds pathway project.

A new pavilion could be located in the same place as the last one and would look out toward the reservoir with a solid wall between the pavilion and the waste water area. Stringellow said he has talked to clergy about weddings and events, and he is putting a rough budget together. He will look at a couple of places that have these kinds of pavilions and how much revenue they bring in.

A covered stage and the amphitheater could be used for weddings, races, the Farmer’s Market and Frozen Dead Guy Days. This has been floating around for eight or nine years, and Stringfellow said he is getting the feeling it’s about time to do something. He suggested the NDDA could operate this until 2030, and then it would go over to the town.

Board Member Rea Orthner said another idea is to do some kind of weed control. Weeds are an issue. Weed control will need to be done and then the park planted with short grass that will take foot traffic.

Gerrity pointed out that it’s hard to build a stage for all those events. Will you have a bathroom there for artists? “I think it’s a lovely idea, but you want to have people who can build something that it can be used for.”

Something for big bands is different from something for cultural events.

They will need storage for tables and chairs, so you really need to know what your vision is, Gerrity said. Stringfellow said it’s important to have a bathroom, storage and a little office.

He will take information from this meeting to the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board, which is leading the project, but wants to look at it as independent project the NDDA can do.

Masingale said the NDDA Mill Levy is set to expire on December 31, 2019. Extending the Mill Levy for another seven years requires voter approval, and the NDDA has retained an attorney to assist with the election process. The attorney is putting together a plan for the election to be presented at the February 2019 Board Meeting.

The draft ballot language is straight forward, Masingale said, and he will bounce this off another attorney and work with Boulder County on the ballot. The ballot language states: “Shall town of Nederland, Colorado, acting on behalf of the Nederland Downtown Development Authority, taxes be increased $ _ in tax collection year _ and by such amount as May be raised annually thereafter through collection year ( years) by extending the ad valorem property tax rate of not more than 5.00 mills on taxable real and personal property within the boundaries of the Nederland Downtown Development District.”

The next regular meeting of the NDDA Board will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at the Nederland Community Center.

(Originally published in the January 24, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)