The Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) met on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 6:45 p.m. to recommend a new community solar provider for the town. The Board also wanted to discuss upcoming action items that affect the Board’s own goals, including economic vitality funds for local businesses and the Town’s 2023 Supplemental Budget that brings salary increases to Town staff.

The SAB first welcomed their newest member, Maddie Woods, whose appointment was approved by the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) on July 11. Woods works as a project coordinator and sustainability manager for a multidisciplinary design company in Louisville and is looking forward to bringing her experience to the Board.

Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher offered an update on Resolution 2023-04, which allows the SAB to appoint “environmental guardians” who speak for the “fundamental and inalienable rights” of Nederland’s 448-square mile watershed, covered by the Rights of Nature resolution adopted by the Town on July 6, 2021.

The BOT reviewed Resolution 2023-04 on July 18, 2023, and suggested adding more language providing guidelines and standards for the guardians as to how they represent the Town, what their jurisdiction is, their operating procedures as far as attending necessary meetings and reporting findings to the Town, and assuring they operate in an advisory capacity only, with no power to override or bypass the BOT in making decisions.

Fisher, Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen, and Mayor Billy Giblin are reviewing and rewriting Resolution 2023-04 to include the changes suggested by the BOT. The resolution will be presented by the SAB for final approval by the BOT in the near future.

Sustainability Coordinator Leah Haney provided an update on the Board’s initiatives regarding electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy (PIE) group, along with the SAB, will have a booth at the Nederland Farmers Markets on August 6 and August 20, where they will provide information on clean energy solutions, as well as giving away free energy-saving light bulbs and free home assessments for winterization upgrades.

On Sunday, September 17, the SAB and PIE will be promoting the Ride and Drive EV event, which will offer attendees the chance to test drive an EV.

Haney updated the Board on the Town’s eligibility for a grant through the Department of Energy to fund upgrading the Town’s transmission and distribution lines, improving existing grids, installing standalone microgrids, and installing geothermal heating.

The suggested plan from the SAB was to connect the Nederland Community Center (NCC) to its own microgrid. However, after meeting with a technical assistance team, Haney discovered that the NCC had been connected to its own microgrid in early 2020. The existing microgrid is outdated, relying on older model solar panels and suffering other complications that have led to unexpected maintenance costs that the NCC does not have budgeted.

With the deadline for applying for the grant at the end of July, 2023, and with the Board unable to supply a “shovelready” plan in order to be eligible for the grant funds, pursuit of this grant was omitted in favor of the SAB identifying key projects, to be ready for the next open application process.

The SAB discussed several items which will be on the agenda of the BOT in the month of August 2023, and analyzed how the agenda items affect their own board’s goals and priorities.

The BOT and Nederland Downtown Development Authority have received $7,000 from the Boulder County Economic Vitality grant, which aims to revitalize businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Local businesses can apply for the funds beginning September 5, and can use them to cover their operating expenses, pay for employee bonuses, or purchase PPE.

The SAB is interested in this item as it is believed that some businesses can use the funds toward their effort to operate with zero waste.

The BOT votes on a 2023 Supplemental Budget on August 1. The supplemental budget accounts for salary increases across all Town departments as a result of the Compensation Study that indicated a gap between Nederland’s municipal pay scale for employees and the state average pay for such positions.

The 2023 Supplemental Budget also accounts for the salary to move Haney, Nederland’s Sustainability Coordinator, to Town staff on a full-time basis. Currently, Haney’s position is part-time and is partially funded by the Boulder County Sustainability grant and by the Town’s Zero Waste budget.

An upcoming action item on the BOT’s agenda concerning a well, cistern, and septic variance for a property development at 24333 Peak-to-Peak Highway was also noted as of interest to the SAB due to the vacant parcel possibly requiring green energy solutions to be planned during its development.

Fisher led the SAB in a discussion about the BOT Strategic Plan for 2023 and 2024, which is a document that prioritizes the Town’s many capital improvement projects currently in development, and provides a timeline for a “year of stabilization” during which projects can be completed, studies can be conducted, plans can be drafted, and new revenue sources can be identified.

Fisher noted that, although there are not a lot of larger-scale projects within the goals document that concern sustainability, the aim for the document was to highlight those projects which could be completed within the 18-month time frame.

Board members specified that projects that involve transportation initiatives, like the Multimodal Transportation Plan, as well as projects that involve housing development and the Town’s building codes, such as the drafting of the Comprehensive Plan update, and the code changes to be made as result of the Housing Needs Assessment, all concern issues of sustainability that the SAB should address when such discussions are scheduled.

The matter of final approval for the BOT Strategic Plan 2023 - 2024 was originally scheduled for a vote at the Tuesday, August 1 meeting; however, the issue was not listed on the official agenda and has yet to be scheduled.

Haney presented the SAB with their next action item, which was to vote on contracting with a new community solar provider, Pivot Energy.

The Town previously was working with US Solar and was expecting up to 300 residential and business customers to sign up to existing solar gardens. US Solar was also expected to develop a bid to Xcel Energy to construct a Nederland-specific solar garden.

Several user-related issues with the registration process and with US Solar’s website have caused delays in the SAB’s solar initiatives. The website was shut down for a period of time, precluding any new customers from signing up, while those who were able to sign up were either confused by the process or dissuaded by the perceived invasive requests for personal financial information.

Pivot Energy has promised an easier and more streamlined sign-up process, which Board Member Kristopher Larsen has agreed to testing as a new solar customer. Mayor Billy Giblin is another tester; he was in the middle of signing up with US Solar before their website was shut down.

Pivot Energy has roughly 100 households-worth of community solar available, though at this time none of it is reserved for Nederland as there is no contract or campaign specified as of yet. If deciding to work with Pivot, a solar campaign to reach potential residential customers can begin immediately.

The SAB voted to recommend working with Pivot Energy, though an amendment was made to postpone final approval pending any difficulties or issues that may arise in testing the sign-up process.

The Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board meets on the fourth Thursday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 24, 2023, at 6:45 p.m. and can be attended online. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/sustainability-advisory-board