Nederland’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) met on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 6:45 p.m. to hear a presentation on the proposed Chipeta Park Pump Track project. Board members also discussed
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Nederland’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) met on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 6:45 p.m. to hear a presentation on the proposed Chipeta Park Pump Track project. Board members also discussed the Town’s Plastic Bag Fee Ordinance.
Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) Vice Chair Sam Ovett and owner and President of High Performance Earthworks Trustee Jesse Seavers gave a presentation on the proposed Chipeta Park Pump Track project. The estimated 10,000 to 15,000 square-foot track is being considered to be built between the parking lot and the basketball court in Chipeta Park.
Ovett and Seavers have been engaging in the Nederland planning process, presenting the Pump Track project to the various boards and commissions for approval. The SAB was the first board to hear their updated proposal after PROSAB had voted to recommend it on March 16.
Board members were presented with images of pump tracks in Broomfield, Erie, and Stapleton, as well as the Valmont Pump Track in Boulder, which is comparable in size to the one to be constructed in Chipeta Park. All of the pump tracks shown to the SAB were designed and built by American Ramp Company (ARC), the contractors that Ovett and Seavers hope to contract with Nederland.
Ovett and Seavers noted that 171 signatures from Nederland residents have been received in support of the proposed project. They explained that the pump track would be accessible not just to bikes, but to skateboards, scooters, wheelchairs, roller skates, and more.
It was also specified that the pump track would be made of asphalt as opposed to dirt, because of the continued maintenance required for a dirt track whenever it rains or snows. Nederland’s weather patterns would cause a dirt pump track to be inaccessible for more than half the year.
Ovett and Seavers are requesting $15,000 from the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), which would need to come from a supplemental budget. The $15,000 would fund preliminary designs and construction specifications from ARC, which would then be used to ramp up fundraising efforts for the full construction costs, estimated to be anywhere between $250,000 and $500,000.
The SAB was greatly in favor of the proposed project and voted unanimously to give the project their recommendation.
Nederland’s Sustainability Coordinator Leah Haney provided Board members with an overview on the Town’s efforts towards applying for a Recycling Resources Economic Opportunities Mini-Grant. The grant would be used to fund the purchase of 50 compost tumblers for home use, which would be raffled off to residents in an effort to promote sustainability and provide more composting solutions.
The mini-grant could provide Nederland an amount between $10,000 and $30,000 in order to purchase the compost tumblers, which would be raffled off during the second half of the Nederland’s Farmers Market. The manufacturer of the tumblers is requiring a 30% payment of the total cost of the order before delivery; however, pricing for the 50 units is still being negotiated.
The grant application is due by April 28, 2023, with the matter (pending recommendation from the SAB) still needing to go before the Board of Trustees (BOT) for final approval.
The SAB voted unanimously to recommend that the BOT approve the Town of Nederland applying for the Recycling Resources Economic Opportunities Mini-Grant for an as-of-yet undetermined amount.
Haney also led the SAB in a discussion centered on the upcoming Wild Earth Day Celebration hosted by Wild Bear Nature Center (WBNC). The event, which will be held at WBNC on Saturday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., will feature animal ambassadors courtesy of Nature’s Educators, and will host informational and interactive partner booths, including Haney and members of the SAB.
Haney noted that the SAB booth will be primarily informational, with some handouts and giveaways, including seed packets gifted from Boulder County, solar program information and promotions, and light bulb kits.
Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher addressed the SAB with a discussion regarding Colorado’s plastic bag fees and polystyrene product ban.
As per the Colorado General Assembly’s adoption of HB21-1163 in 2021, stores are required to charge a ten-cent bag fee for recycled paper and/ or single-use plastic carry-out bags as of January 1, 2023. And starting January, 2024, stores and restaurants will no longer be allowed to provide customers with single-use plastic carry-out bags or any expanded polystyrene product as a container for ready-to-eat food.
On March 8, 2023, the NDDA gave their support to the Town actively enforcing its current plastic bag fee as implemented in Ordinance 737. However, Ordinance 737, which Nederland drafted in 2015, would need to be updated to match HB21-1163. The NDDA were also in support of a ban on polystyrene products but desired to give local businesses until at least January 1, 2024, in order to implement the changes to their inventories.
Fisher asked for volunteers from the SAB to assist in drafting the updates to Ordinance 737 to establish a plastic bag fee and a polystyrene product ban. Board members Rich Ormand and Larry Tasady volunteered.
The Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board meets on the fourth Thursday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 6:45 p.m. and can be attended online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/ sustainability-advisory-board.