The Nederland Board of Trustees approved applying for a Peace Officer grant during a regular, virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 7 p.m. The Board also discussed Nederland Community Center tax extension language, the Climate Emergency Action Resolution, the Revitalizing Main Streets Gran, and the Annexation Policy.

Peace Officer Grant

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher introduced a grant application for the Peace Officer Behavioral Health Support and Community Partnership Grant for $100,000, with $15,000 as a match from the Town. The Town has been working with the Boulder County Co-responders since 2021, and they have served as a virtual resource for the community.

Working as a co-responder team, law enforcement and a behavioral health specialist respond together to calls for service that may involve mental health issues, substance use, death of a loved one, or some type of crisis. “By drawing upon the combined expertise of the law enforcement official and behavioral health specialist, the team can link people to appropriate services or provide other effective and efficient responses, de escalating situations that may have resulted in an arrest.”

During the 2022 budget work sessions, Town staff discussed funding a full-time co-responder. The Peace Officer grant recently opened, which would provide funding for Nederland to have a full-time co-responder through the Boulder County Co-Responders program. Jennine Hall, Boulder County Co-Responder Program Manager, and her team are willing to assist in writing the grant, so staff are seeking approval from the Board to apply for the grant, which is due January 28, 2022.

Funds from the match would come from the Police Department’s salary budget since there will be savings following Marshal Johns’ departure. The Board approved the grant application with the $15,000 match. Fisher said they should learn about the grant within 30 days.

Community Center Sales Tax

Fisher introduced a discussion item regarding sales tax for the Community Center. They would like to continue that tax and broaden it in case the Board wants to make improvements in the Community Center.

The current sales tax that supports the Community Center is set to expire December 31, 2023. The Town would like to go to the voters in April 2022 and ask for approval to continue the tax without a sunset.

The Town would not be asking for voter approval to increase the Town’s debt, since the money that was borrowed will be paid off this year. They are seeking to broaden the scope of these funds to include ongoing capital expenses needed to properly maintain and operate the Community Center.

Since the tax would be collected in perpetuity, any excess would be held in a Community Center reserve fund for future or unforeseen needs outside the scope of the normal budget, including but not limited to potential expansion or renovation. This ballot language will come back for approval at the February 1, 2022 meeting.

The Board agreed to bring this back as an action item at the next meeting.

Climate Emergency Resolution

Melody Baumhover and Eryka Thorley with the Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) submitted a resolution regarding the climate emergency. “With 2021 being the fifth warmest year since record keeping began in 1850, a dramatic increase in the length of wildfire season including the recent Marshall Fire, and the United States hit by 20 separate billion dollar climate disasters in 2021 alone, it is imperative that we prioritize and communicate the significant implications of climate change,” they said.

Nederland has long supported climate action and commitments including zero waste initiatives, committing to 100 percent renewable energy, and supporting necessary transitions to make the community more sustainable, but more needs to be done.

SAB asked the Board to approve the Climate Emergency Resolution to continue to present climate change as a priority that requires laser focus and dedication. “The recent sixth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change found that if we are to stay below the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold to avoid catastrophic climate disruption, we must act now.”

The Board agreed that Trustees Eric Coombs Esmail and Julian Taylor will assist in drafting a resolution to bring back to the next meeting.

Revitalizing Main Streets grant

In May 2021, the Town submitted an application for the Revitalizing Main Streets grant, which had not been accepted. Fisher said the Town received an email inviting us to reapply. “We’d like to move forward with submitting the same application but scaling back the project slightly by removing the burying of power lines, as we have determined with Xcel that doing so would be significantly more expensive than what was initially proposed.”

If awarded, the RMS grant would allow the Town to reconstruct sidewalks on East 1st Street and add a loading zone. This is a similar request to the existing Transportation Improvement Program and Safer Main Street grant staff is currently working on.

The May 2021 application was for $2 million. Town staff recommend scaling that back to focus entirely on the construction of the sidewalks and loading zones. The total request would be $896,036.14.

The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) has previously approved a 10 percent match when the application was $2 million. If the NDDA contributes 10 percent, the match would be about $90,000.

If the Town seeks match funding from the NDDA, there would need to be a special meeting of the NDDA, since the grant proposal is due February 4, 2022, before their next meeting. A match is not required, so Town could also support the grant application with only in-kind match being Town staff time and equipment.

The Board agreed to take this to the NDDA, and Fisher said she will inform the NDDA about a meeting.

Annexation Regulations

Boulder County and the Town of Nederland have a Comprehensive Development Plan Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) which went into effect in March 2002, with a 20-year term. It is set to expire in March 2022. From 2017 to 2019, Town staff, Boulder County Land Use staff, the Boulder County Commissioners, and the Board of Trustees discussed potential revisions to the IGA.

Information regarding the discussions and the latest draft IGA can be found here: https://www.bouldercounty.org/ property-and-land/landuse/planning/intergovernmentalagreements-iga/iga-19-0001. Public Meetings and Community Forums have been taking place in Nederland since the fall of 2017, allowing a community conversation to unfold.

Proposed revisions to the IGA include changes to streamline the annexation procedure, ensuring timely responses to referrals, and establishing clear procedures for processing amendments. The 2019 revised draft IGA included a Primary Planning Area within which annexation can occur with no amendment to the IGA or decision role for the County and no vote of the town electorate.

Annexations would need to be initiated by the property owner. The 2019 revised draft also included hiring a third-party to perform a wildlife study and require that any development is compatible with the report of the study findings, working to mitigate risks of development related to natural hazards, and protecting sensitive nature areas including watersheds.

Trustee Julian Taylor said to ensure this is a disciplined process, and proposed that planning should begin and require a vote of the people. Trustee Alan Apt said many residents are concerned there is some desire for rapid annexation. Trustee Lindsey Danforth said, “We are trying to give people a voice and it will go through a process.”

Mayor Kristopher Larsen asked if the Board members have an interest to draft annexation regulations or work on Nederland procedures. They will bring this back as a discussion item and will work on a survey for Town residents.

The next Nederland Board of Trustees meeting will be virtual on February 1, 2022. For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=391.