John Scarffe, Nederland.  After two applicants for a vacant position on the Nederland Board of Trustees abruptly stepped down, a third candidate was appointed to the Board. During the Board’s regular meeting on May 1 at 7 p.m. in the Nederland Community Center Multi-Purpose room, three new Trustees gained a seat.

The Board appointed the new Trustees after an extensive process of interviews with each applicant, then voting for their top three choices out of five candidates. Candidates were Erik Merkt, Former Mayor Chris Perret, James Rawsthorne, Kristen Conrad and Jonathon Baumhover.

Mayor Kristopher Larsen announced that the Board would go through the applicants. Each will come to the podium and introduce themselves, and then the Board can ask questions.

The four Trustees will then rank their choices voting for first, second and third choice with three points awarded for first place, two points for second and one point for third.

The two individuals with the highest point totals get four-year terms, and the third-place vote gets a two-year term. A tie will result in a direct run off vote between the applicants.

Merkt was called first to the podium. He said he is a newbie here and hates talking about himself. He and his partner, Bonnie, moved here two and half years ago and built a house. Then he started his own mechanical engineering consulting company, so it was a tough transition.

Merkt has an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and served in the military working on aircraft. He has also worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a biologist and worked for a large consulting company.

“I understand the importance of this Board in setting the direction of the Town, so I wanted to throw my name in the hat,” Merkt said. He is good at coming up to speed on issues and looking at data.

Trustee Julie Gustafson said this is a big decision for this Town, and she is glad to have the five of candidates present. She wishes the decision had been left to the voters.

It takes a commitment of time to come up to speed on all of the documents and big projects, and Gustafson wanted to make sure he was prepared to spend that time. Merkt said, “I’m definitely prepared to do that,” explaining that as a consultant he has a fairly flexible schedule.

Merkt is a local musician and banjo player. He has played with local musicians such as Black Dog and Eric Stone. He is passionate about the out-of-doors. He’s a river floater, fisherman and skier.

His biggest Town issues include the fact that he and Bonnie spent more than 2,000 hours pulling noxious weeds. Other towns are dealing with this more aggressively. Nederland should be gathering some bench-marking data and looking into how other towns are dealing with similar issues.

Trustee Dallas Masters said the Board needs someone who has a background in mechanical engineering and can dissect the nuts and bolts of big projects. Merkt said his background is specific to building efficiency, and he can talk to engineers about that and other related matters.

Chris Perret has lived in Nederland for 35 years and has served the Town as Mayor and four years as a Trustee. He has worked on the Town’s skate park and skating facility. Now he is pseudo retired from a successful mechanics business.

Perret also does Peaceful Rides and Security for NedFest, Caribou Room and Frozen Dead Guy Days. His two children graduated from Nederland High School and then from college.

Perret said he will be able to bring past and future experience together. His priorities include dealing with homelessness in the area and needing to make strides for true affordable housing so teachers and employees of local businesses can live here.

“We had a few boards when we were not cohesive, and I think we have a better cohesiveness and can get information before you come to the meetings. I’m approachable by the town as well as other Board members,” Perret said.

“I have no problem with meeting until 11 p.m. We used to meet until 1:30 a.m.,” Perret said. He is passionate about Nederland becoming a family oriented town.

“We need more things for children to do so they don’t go up and down the canyon,” Perret said. As a Trustee liaison, he would want to be on the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) and the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA).

James Rawsthorne works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with the U.S. Department of Commerce. He has familiarity with the language and property owners in Nederland.

Nederland has provided a great environment to have a home and raise a child, and he just wants to serve. He has been here for five years and before that worked for a federal data collection agency focusing on nutrition for public schools.

Rawsthorne also worked for 15 years at the National Renewable Energy Research Laboratory in Golden. He does a lot of outreach with federal officials. He takes the raw data and tries to form a bridge between the data and the politician.

He is a Big Springs resident and has been before the Board to speak. Towns that have planned development do better than those that don’t, Rawsthorne said. Roads show what the community is like.

“The connection of dollars to priorities is intrinsic and an indication of where our values lie. My focus is streaming research data. My teammates are in Washington and all over the country so it isn’t important where we’re located,” Rawsthorne said.

Development is coming to Nederland, and he is engaged with plans like Ron Mitchell’s. It’s a case of successful business development.

A new fiber optic link to get information back to Town is needed, Rawsthorne said. The best way to resolve that is to have a bigger tax base. “Our roads are in awful shape now and I was so pleased the issue passed in the election for increased taxes.

“If you push the envelope you’re going to fail half of the time. Your first step in streaming the meetings live is important. I think there’s a lot more that can be done. We broadcast our research data live. It’s free and easily accessible and can be a real connection between audience and information.”

Kristen Conrad said she and her family have lived in this area for 21 years and in the town for 11 years. They are going to stay. They are lovers of the town and the outdoor environment. “What I care about with this town is to keep our town fully functioning and not a bedroom community. A fully functioning town attracts everybody.”

“How do we get younger people in here,” Conrad asked. Her 22-year-old son left because he can’t afford to be here.

Change is growth, Conrad said. “If we’re not evolving, we’re pretty much dead. I have a keen interest in how the community evolved. She is a member of the Nederland Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board (PROSAB) because she cares about open spaces and is on the Peak to Peak Forest Watch group.

Conrad is concerned about economic pressures that are causing a lot of misuses. It’s a human scale town, and she doesn’t want to see that lost in development. “How do we make this town more friendly to walk. With the highway, it’s very uncomfortable. How do our customers know where our businesses are and getting people to walk around,” Conrad asked.

“We could have neighborhoods and could promote the culture that is already here.” She has a long-term passion for the issue of homelessness, and sometimes we label everything homelessness, but we’re dealing with the opioid crisis and chose to legalize marijuana.

“We’re attracting people because we are first. They are not homeless but they are here for certain freedoms. We need to figure out how to deal with it.”

“We are in a major development cycle and people feel like they will be left behind and they are very scared,” Conrad said. She works in a scientific communications office and does web development.

While on PROSAB, her main accomplishment was the most contentious, which was Forsyth II. “It’s been very, very, divided,” Conrad said.

“Homeowners have very legitimate concerns as do the fire people. We have been able to get to a plan with that diversity and heated discussion and sometimes contention, and that made me proud,” she said.

Masters said that Conrad has been on PROSAB and he really appreciates how she addresses issues and talks to all the people in the room.

Jonathon Baumhover said he moved here when he was three. “This is my home. I went briefly to college on the east coast but traveled back.” He has a wife and a seven-year-old.

He has worked in restaurants and as a project manager, for Teens Inc. and local construction companies. He has a solid grasp on all the groups in town.

“I see this as a major turning point for Nederland. It will either coalesce and come together or fall apart. We have many challenges and issues, and also a great resource of minds with the Board of Trustees, business owners and your average Joe.

Baumhover is specifically looking at planning going forward. Change is inevitable, and managing that change is important. “I am aware of the commitment of the Board.”

The Town should be taking what we have that is unique and running with it. Sometimes the most heated meetings have been the most powerful, Baumhover said.

“My fear would be we chase after what Boulder has done. We are a small mountain community that has a small tax base. Classically, it seems we look to big cities for our big solutions. We need to get stuff done instead of taking the more unique approach,” Baumhover said.

Nederland should stand up right now and say, “We are not West Boulder,” and really look and sit down with developers and come up with a clear understanding of what will and will not be allowed.

“I would love to see this town moved forward in technology but still keep its mountain man characteristics. We must look at other towns and cities when it comes to affordable housing.” Baumhover said.

“We can be a lot more creative, like mother’s-in-law studios and could allow housing like Yurts. That’s what gets construction down to $30,000. We need to explore some other options.”

Baumhover’s classmates at Nederland High School have now left. The look of someone’s yard is more important than their business. Baumhover said that 85 percent of the Nederland population is somehow involved in the construction industry. There will always be construction.

“We need to see Nederland as a unique town with unique circumstances. My wife is chair of SAB but sees it in a practical sense. Some sustainability measures don’t need to be pushed, like crusher fine for sidewalks, which caused lots of work for Public Works,” Baumhover said.

Sustainability was pushed over practicality. “I’d love to see 2020 come to fruition. I would like to see this town own its issues. We are eccentric and contrary and that needs to be dealt with,” Baumhover said.

“Sustainability would not be my focus. I’m an action oriented individual and noxious weed coordinator for Nederland.”

The Board then voted for their first three choices. In the final results, Conrad received ten points, Rawsthorne with nine, and both Merkt and Perret with two. Baumhover had one vote.

Merkt held up his hand at that point and said he wanted to withdraw and throw his support for Chris Perret, who has a lot more experience than he. Perret said he would like to see Baumhover on the Board, and then he will run in two years.

After much discussion, the Board decided to open the vote for the remaining seat among the three remaining candidates and invited each back to speak. Baumhover said he understands the difficult situation the Board is in, but it’s a great example of what he would like to do.

Perret said that, being an old dog, he will still be watching and gives all of his support to Baumhover. The Town needs a younger person on the Board.

Merkt said: “I love this town and I put my support on Jonathon.” The Board appointed Baumhover to the two-year term as Trustee.

Following the vote, Mayor Larsen swore in Kristen Conrad, James Rawsthorne and Jonathon Baumhover as the three new members of the Nederland Board of Trustees.

(Originally published in the May 10, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)