The Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) met on Monday, October 23, 2023, at 6:45 p.m. to discuss student design projects and review the 2024 plastic bag ban.

The meeting began with Mayor Billy Giblin announcing a new open position on the Board of Trustees. Eligible individuals were encouraged to run, and there will be additional positions available in the Spring.

The team was reminded of the upcoming opportunities to assist with the Godot Communications Visual Identity Rebound Project. Godot and Nederland are aiming to establish branding and creative identity for tourists visiting Nederland. Rather than attracting more tourists, the goal is to communicate the town’s story to those visiting. Godot is planning face-to-face interactions with the community, as well as sessions to gather input and ideas for the project. They will announce the November and December sessions once they get feedback from the October meetings.

SAB received feedback from the BOT regarding amendments to the Rights of Nature Resolution and the appointment of Guardians. Giblin, along with Jennifer Madsen, the Town’s General Attorney, and Aaron Ladd, the town’s Water Attorney, curated a new draft to be presented to the board. The new draft aims to address unintentional challenges and provide more clear expectations for Guardians. SAB moved to send the revised resolution to the BOT.

Miranda Fisher, Town Administrator, informed the committee that the Colorado School of Mines students have chosen Nederland as the location for their Subsystem Design Project. They are working on creating a storage system for recycling electronics, and SAB will assist them. The next steps are to discuss the location, weather, and security of the project with the students.

In response to the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act of 2021, effective January 1, 2024, SAB has been updating the municipal codes that implement the act. The team is advising a straight ban on plastic bags and polystyrene altogether.

There will be a fee for paper bags of ten cents. It is up to each municipality to decide what gets enforced – the state is not managing the collection of any of those fees. As for the distribution of fees, 60% will go to the Town, and 40% will go to the retailer or food establishment to cover any additional costs that may occur.

The new code addresses why SAB is doing this and the details of the ban while clarifying enforcement. Currently, farmer’s markets and temporary events are left out of the ban. The committee discussed a reusable bag exchange to encourage the community to prepare for enaction of the ban.

The Masters of the Environment (MENV) Capstone project is executed by the University of Colorado Boulder MENV graduate student interns conducting surveys on existing state-based outdoor programs in eight western states. The goal is to create a research-based roadmap for responsible tourism (not increasing, but managing traffic) with respect to sustainable practices.

They will identify revenue generation opportunities and assess possible risks while keeping equity in mind for access to tourist attractions and trails. SAB and other boards will propose a draft to the BOT and then present their ideas to the students. Next, the students will decide which project they’d like to work on, and finally, the students will work alongside the committee to execute the project.

The draft was approved by the BOT after considerable discussion. They raised concerns about the specific revenue estimate and its allocation for the project. The BOT requested tangible expectations or estimates of potential revenue to justify funding. In response, SAB included various revenue sources and a range of revenue amounts in the proposal. They will analyze visitor numbers, income, and interests to model sustainable visitorship scenarios.

If accepted, the C&D Debris Recycling Deposit Program can compensate the Town at $2,500 per student for three students, totaling $7,500. Once approved, SAB will present its project plans to students on November 17.

SAB discussed a follow-up of the August meeting where Partners in Energy (PIE) presented their gap analysis of the Town’s energy goals. They wanted SAB to decide on specific areas they would focus on in order for the Town to “close the gap.” SAB will continue working toward the 2025 goal by focusing on commercial and municipal funding sources.

Leah Haney gave the overall report at the end of the meeting and addressed other business. She reported that the group is not moving forward with Carshare; however, SAB plans to reach out to Colorado Carshare individually to see how they might be able to get the program without funding if there’s a revenue opportunity for them.

In the coming weeks, SAB is meeting with Drive Clean Colorado to gain writing resources to go after some possible collaborative grants.

The Rooftop Solar campaign through Solar United Neighbors had a solid outcome. Eight community members have signed up for the program.

Unfortunately, a full-time sustainability coordinator is not in the 2024 budget. After 2025, “the year of stabilization,” SAB hopes to have the funds to fill this position.

The Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board meets on the fourth Thursday of every month. November’s meeting will be on Thursday, November 30, 2023, and December’s meeting will be on Monday, December 18, 2023. For more information go to: townofnederland.colorado.gov/ sustainability-advisory-board.