Dear Editor,

As many people know, a referendum petition was submitted to the Town Clerk last week with over 80 signatures requesting that the board revisit its decision to grant a special review use certificate to Teens Inc for the use of the Town Shop Site. And this during and after the 53 inch snowstorm! Those who have signed, all in the last ten days, ask the board to revisit the decision, or refer the matter to a special election.

It is important that our effort be properly described. It is a misclassification to say we are in “opposition to the Teens Day Care,” the opposition is to the scale of this proposal, the lease proposal of $1 per year for 99 years, the impact and traffic, the vague plans, and the impression of backroom dealing. No one is opposed to Teens Inc. Yet petitioners have been described as “sketchy,” “delusional,” “uneducated,” “gross,” “unreal.” The polarization that is being encouraged by board members and Teens Inc supporters alike is disappointing.

We are being told to hand over valuable public assets without competing bids. The commitments made by the town to protect watersheds is pertinent to this discussion and should be the starting point of any discussion about this property.

Discussions over the last 25 years about this site at the BOT level have shown that people embrace the concept of in-scale affordable housing (8 units), very accessible to seniors and the disabled, which leaves room for an open space area. Envision 2030 parks subcommittee meetings heard suggestions for a picnic table, a basketball hoop, some willows, a few parking spaces, and improved water corridor habitat for all to enjoy.

The Town of Nederland is proposing to take on risk through the issuance of the proposed lease to Teens Inc which would last for several generations. What if as yet undetected ground contamination is found? What if this exceeds our public resources (such as the water treatment plant, or liability for downstream flooding due to inadequate drainage and runoff plan), what if there are lawsuits around the facility (injury, etc.)? There are many areas of potential failure here that the town is assuming as Lessor— without any financial compensation or even basic creation or discussion of a potential fiscal note.

We have a comp plan now. The approved SRU plan does not follow it and should have never made it to the agenda as an SRU. This was remiss on town’s part. In fact the same person who signed as “owner” of the parcel for town was also in charge of evaluating whether or not it fit into the comp plan! Conflict of interest.

Obviously, child care is a cornerstone of a healthy community. But with a $5,000,000 annual budget, Teens Inc has options. If the supporters of this massive project are so convinced of their popular support, they should welcome this vote. The reason there is not continued mention of things like the library build, sewage plant, etc. is that we took a vote, counted the numbers and thus had a public referendum that settled the matters.

We still live in a democracy. One where the statement by one board member and current candidate for an elected seat on the BOT, “We’re doing this, even if we have to lock ourselves in a room,” is out of place. The citizens of Nederland are uncomfortable with this approach. We have proved once again that we are ready, willing, and able to step up and be pro-active in our democracy.

“In a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen.” -Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter

Mary Jarril

Nederland