John Scarffe, Nederland. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity notified the Town Board and Town Staff on March 31, 2021, that she intends to leave her position in five months. During the regular Nederland Board of Trustees meeting on April 6, 2021, the Board said a Staff Transition Team has formed.

The Board also discussed corrections to parking codes, building code updates and CDOT funding opportunities for the revitalizing Main Streets Grant.

Town Administrator Position

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said he can’t say enough about what Karen Gerrity has done, including building relationships with the Board and the public. “We have a team in place and are putting a timeline together.”

“I feel so good about the staff and financial position of the town. I look forward to how she will reimagine herself in the future and am glad she has five more months left.”

The staff transition Team will be comprised of Deputy Town Administrator and Town Clerk Miranda Fisher, Town Treasurer Rita Six and Gerrity. They will work closely with department and division heads to create and activate an operational transition plan. 

Gerrity was hired in 2017 and began her tenure with the Town on September 1 that year. Larsen said they will look at the next meeting for a job announcement so the Town can have someone in midsummer and prior to September. Although the Board discussed working to transition the Town Clerk into Town Administrator position, Trustees agreed they needed to conduct a rigorous search.

Ordinance 645

The Board pulled a consent item agenda to an action item regarding a resolution to authorize Mayor Larsen and Town Clerk Miranda Fisher to authenticate corrected Ordinance 645. It was recently discovered that Ordinance 645 in the Town records does not reflect the actions of the Board of Trustees at the January 8, 2008, meeting, at which it was adopted. 

Ordinance Number 645 was approved by the Board of Trustees at its January 8, 2008, regular meeting. During the meeting, the Board of Trustees approved several amendments to the draft Ordinance 645. 

The language in Section 16-202 of the Nederland Municipal Code as published by the Town’s codifier, Municode, differs from the language of Section 16-202 in the adopting Ordinance Number 645. Through investigation it was learned that Ordinance Number 645 as authenticated by the Mayor and Town Clerk did not include amendments approved by the Board of Trustees at the January 8, 2008, meeting. 

The Board of Trustees discussed this matter at a special meeting on March 23, 2021. To correct the problem of discrepancy between the signed Ordinance 645 and what was approved by the Board of Trustees, the recommendation is to authorize the Mayor and Town Clerk to sign a corrected Ordinance 645 that includes the amendments as approved by the Board of Trustees in January 2008. 

At the March 23, 2021, meeting, the Board directed the Town Attorney to bring back an ordinance for the purpose of correcting Ordinance 645. If approved, Resolution 2021-06, gives the Mayor and the Town Clerk the authority to sign the ordinance nunc pro tunc (“now for then”). 

To clarify, the Board of Trustees is not being asked to approve corrected Ordinance 645. That action was taken on January 8, 2008. The recommendation is to approve the Resolution 2021-06 to authenticate a corrected Ordinance 645 and to correct the Town records so that the ordinance conforms to the actions and intent of the Board of Trustees. 

Ordinance 645 was published in The Mountain-Ear on January 24, 2008. A close inspection of the publication of Ordinance 645 in The Mountain-Ear shows that the text which is struck out (to signify removal from the code section) is not removed but rather it is included in the publication. 

No mechanism exists for correcting a prior publication for an ordinance that was adopted in 2008. The Board of Trustees may direct Town Staff to investigate each section of the code that includes strike outs or could adopt a new ordinance that includes each of the affected sections so that the Nederland law is clearly established. 

During discussion of the consent agenda item, Trustee Tania Corvalan suggested moving this because it needs more discussion. On the minutes, it was not clear that the Central Business District parking was ever changed and wanted to know what is being added.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen said the fourth amendment has been added to require applications. This ordinance is longer than the paper version because it includes the strike out text. 

Madsen said this corrected ordinance was sent to The Mountain-Ear. She has gone through and checked the meeting minutes and the publication. “The ordinance we have in the books is wrong.”

The Board agreed to add it to the action items and move on with the meeting. During discussion of the action item later in the meeting, Madsen reiterated that Ordinance 645 in the books doesn’t align with the minutes and what was published in January 2008. 

The corrected ordinance does match with the publication except strikeout language. After much discussion the Board approved Resolution 2021–06 

CDOT Funding

Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier introduced a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) funding opportunity for the Revitalizing Main Streets grant. He asked the Board to support an application to reconstruct sidewalks on east First Street and bury the existing overhead power lines. 

This is a similar request to the existing TIP grant staff is working on, and staff is asking the Board to consider a project creating a loading zone. Staff would like formal support from the Board to bring this to the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to request matching funds. 

The project would include the reconstruction of the sidewalk on the south side of East First Street and bury existing overhead primary and secondary power lines and communications cables. The grant also allows for funds for street lighting, which should be considered if the power poles are removed. 

Staff sees an opportunity to also reconstruct the sidewalk on the north side of East First Street and is proposing a project that utilizes the planter space in front of the existing Deli and widening the sidewalk in front of the Mountain People’s Co-op to create a loading dock. This concept has the potential to enable delivery trucks to back up directly to an elevated sidewalk and make deliveries from the back of their trucks all while being off the driven roadway. Both plans would extend the sidewalk to Snyder Street and make a connection to the Second Street sidewalk. 

Pelletier said it would be a $2 million grant and recommended a 20 percent match. Identified in the DDA master plan is a loading zone, an inset where the Deli is, a flower bed and create a loading zone and move materials directly on the sidewalk and other areas. He has traffic counters for the weekends, and it is not safe. Nederland’s population is aging, and it would be nice to have walkways more user friendly .

The Board approved moving ahead with this grant and particularly liked burying the power lines. Mayor Larsen said, “Bring this back.”

The Board discussed building code updates and heard a presentation on the Envision2030 vision statement, goals and objectives, which is a long comprehensive document. To see it, go to: https://nederlandco.org/envision-2030/  

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at 7 p.m. For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.

(Originally published in the April 15, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)