The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, to discuss the lease agreement with TEENS, Inc. for their approved child care center. The BOT also received an update from the Boulder Watershed Collective on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).

Maya MacHamer, Director of the Boulder Watershed Collective (BWC), Applied Social Scientist Erin Fried, and BWC Consultant Julien Blundell discussed the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. BWC offered recommendations on the major tenets of a National Cohesive Wildfire Strategy, including creating a fire-adapted community, safe and effective wildfire response, and resilient landscapes.

The CWPP has been in development for two years, with BWC the overall facilitator responsible for acquiring funding, hiring consultants, and gathering the different partners.

The Town of Nederland, Boulder County, City of Boulder, and Colorado and U.S. Forest Services have worked together with the Nederland and Timberline Fire Protection Districts, United Power, The Ember Alliance, and Coalitions and Collaborations Inc. to offer their collective expertise in drafting the plan.

BWC’s recommendations that focus on creating fire-adapted communities include outreach specific to the community, increased fire ban signage, implementation of a Community Leader Program, requiring fuel treatments along public roadways, and expanding the sort yard’s availability.

Recommendations for providing a safe and effective wildfire response include mitigating evacuation routes, improving ingress and egress routes, offering training for local emergency response agencies, and funding a Type 3 engine for the Nederland Fire Protection District.

Recommendations for creating resilient landscapes include “crossboundary forest management,” planning fuel treatments, and drafting a Nederland-specific recovery plan that outlines the Town’s plan for rebuilding after a wildfire.

The presentation led Trustees to recognize the need to include in the 2025 budget an amount for mitigating the Town’s roads, and to reach out to CDOT about mitigating the highway.

After the Nederland electorate voted to approve the Special Review Use application from TEENS, Inc for the development of a child care center on 750 West 5th Street, the Town must now complete a lot consolidation process and complete a ground lease agreement.

The Board discussed the lease, focusing particularly on financial considerations requested by TEENS, Inc., including the $1 per year lease for 99 years; waiving building permit, inspection, and plan review fees; and waiving water and sewer tap fees.

TEENS, Inc.’s Executive Director, Stephen LeFaiver, answered questions regarding the draft lease agreement. He also provided information pertaining to two Memoranda of Understanding that TEENS, Inc. has agreed to draft.

These documents, to be approved in conjunction with the lease agreement, state that the child care center will prioritize Nederland families, as well as provide tuition discounts to Town of Nederland employees.

LeFaiver noted that TEENS, Inc. is hoping to receive an $800,000 grant to fund part of the construction of the roughly $6.2 million project, though an update concerning the Town’s position on the lease agreement was being requested before approval.

He added that TEENS, Inc. only requested to have the water and sewer tap fees waived because of the assumption that the cost would greatly affect the project’s construction timeline. He said that the goal for completion of the center was August, 2026.

Trustees estimated that the tap fees would not amount to more than $150,000, after which LeFaiver agreed that TEENS, Inc. would accept responsibility for paying them, as well as the building permit, inspection, and plan review fees.

With TEENS, Inc. agreeing to cover all associated fees, as well as for the studies required for the completion of the lot consolidation process, the Board approved the lease conditions at $1 a year for 99 years.

Utilities Department Manager Andrew Bliss requested direction from the Board regarding the Town complying with new regulations required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule. The EPA now requires municipalities to inventory their water service lines to ensure that none remain that are made of lead.

Because Nederland has fewer than 1,500 service lines, the Town only has to inventory and verify 20% of its lines installed before 1960. The Town would be required to expose lines in two different places at 50 addresses, and would need to do so before the EPA deadline of October 16, 2024.

Bliss reiterated that, from reviewing the Town’s history and from water tests that the Utilities Department completes regularly, there has been no record of lead lines existing, nor have there been any traces of lead found in the Town’s water.

Bids from contractors totaling over $200,000 have already been received for the project. Bliss suggested that $85,000 could be accessed within the Utilities Department’s water budget, and asked if the BOT would consider funding the remainder from reserves.

Trustees approved Bliss moving forward with hiring a contractor to complete the service line verification project before October 16.

The BOT was tasked with voting to appoint either Solana Kaercher or Tom Mahowald to an open position on the Planning Commission, left vacant by Stephanie Herring, who resigned in June.

Kaercher has been a Nederland resident for three years, studied urban planning and environmental policy in college, and currently works in the field of soil biology. Kaercher expressed an interest in the creation of affordable housing to help provide a stable workforce for Nederland’s businesses.

Mahowald previously served as the BOT Liaison to the Commission and has served, and still serves, on many other volunteer boards, including the Nederland Food Pantry. Mahowald stated his belief that his grasp of the history and data involved with many projects expected to come before the Planning Commission will serve as a benefit.

Though many Trustees felt that Kaercher’s youth and perspective would fit well on the Commission, Mahowald was appointed to the position because of his previous experience and the recommendations of the Commission’s Chair, Vice Chair, and current BOT Liaison.

Town Administrator Jonathan Cain updated Trustees on the $160,000 Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant awarded to the Towns of Lyons and Nederland to fund the salary and benefits for a Housing Coordinator for two years.

Once committing to the agreement, which is expected to be finalized the week of the August 20 meeting, the Town will have seven days to draft the Housing Coordinator job description for DOLA review. Upon approval from DOLA, the Town will expeditiously begin the hiring process.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.