NEDERLAND - The Nederland Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) met on Thursday, December 19, 2024 to discuss the upcoming update of their organization’s Master Plan. The plan focuses on PROSAB’s key priorities, including open...
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NEDERLAND - The Nederland Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) met on Thursday, December 19, 2024, to discuss the forthcoming update of their organization’s Master Plan, and to welcome the graduate student who will be dealing with the PROST as her capstone project.
The Master Plan focuses on PROSAB’s key priorities, including open space conservation, fire mitigation, trail building, and desired trail connectivity.
Since PROSAB did not meet in November, Board members reviewed the past two staff reports from Parks Department Manager Nicki Dunn, which detailed the efforts of the Town’s Parks Department from late October into early December.
According to Dunn’s reports, the Safer Main Streets project is expected to begin receiving bids soon for the construction of beaconed crosswalks across Highway 72, one at the library and another at North Jefferson Street; and at the intersection of North Bridge and East 1st Streets.
The Barker Meadows Park project, which includes the reseeding of Guercio Field, though marked “complete” to satisfy the conditions of the Great Outdoors Colorado grant, is extended in order to include improving the drainage from Town land into the reservoir.
Two PROSAB projects, redesigning and redeveloping NedRINK and improving ADA accessibility of the Chipeta Park playground equipment, were delayed in 2024, but efforts toward their completion will continue into the new year.
$13,000 of Metropolitan Football Funds from the sale of the Denver Broncos has been successfully distributed to local organizations with a focus on developing recreational opportunities for youth. The remaining $8,700 is expected to be distributed in 2025.
Dunn’s report specified that “preparations for ice at the rink are in progress, with water being laid to create the ice surface. This year, a good seal on the boards is expected to minimize water loss, fostering hopes for a smoother and more successful season than last year.”
During the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting on December 17, Town Administrator Jonathan Cain expressed his hope that NedRINK would be open before the Christmas holiday.
“This seven-day transition process was both time-consuming and hazardous, requiring careful handling of boards and fencing that would have been difficult to manage alone,” Dunn reported.
“Fortunately, with the assistance of the Utilities Department, the transition was completed without any injuries. The teamwork and camaraderie between the departments made the effort both effective and enjoyable, fostering laughs and team spirit along the way.”
Also during the BOT meeting, Parks employee Mark Schlossler’s service to the community was honored. His exceptional service, commitment, reliability, leadership ability, and kindness were officially recognized as he was awarded Nederland’s Employee of the Year for 2024.
Dunn thanked the Nederland Downtown Development Authority for their generous contribution towards funding the Town’s Holiday Lighting Ceremony, which provided new lights for the cherished community event.
The Parks Department have also been working diligently on their annual winter preparedness procedures, including repairing Nederland’s sidewalks.
In addition to the concrete sidewalks which have sustained damage from summer rains, the much maligned crusher fine sidewalks develop large grooves from even moderate rainfall, causing mobility issues and requiring constant maintenance, highlighting the need for their replacement.
Dunn’s report highlighted PROSAB’s efforts towards completing an updated draft of their Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Trails Master Plan (PROST), indicating that the projected timeline for completion, December 2024, will need to be extended as the process has been on hold while the Town’s major guiding document, the Comprehensive Plan, is being updated.
According to the report, once the Comprehensive Plan is complete—projected to occur by January or February, 2025—both documents will be reviewed for compatibility.
Additionally, support for this project has been requested of the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
Denver Maya Diaz, Master of Urban and Regional Planning student from the University of Colorado, has chosen the PROST update as her capstone project, and was present at the December 19 PROSAB meeting.
Diaz graduated in May, 2023, with a degree in anthropology from Vanderbilt University, and a minor in environmental sustainability, which led her to the field of urban planning. She currently works with a consulting firm focusing on community engagement, which is what interested her in the PROST project.
Board members provided Diaz with background history and more detailed information related to PROST pertaining to its primary function and how the document is expected to be laid out.
“What it really allows us to do is to move forward confidently on initiatives, so as not to have as many issues with them getting executed,” PROSAB Vice Chair Sam Ovett stated as he described the Master Plan.
“It would be very helpful having a PROST that is more succinct, with bite-size projects,” Board member Kat Barr added. “Like, these are the top three priorities for the next five years, as opposed to big picture ideas, and everything that we could possibly want to do in the next ten years.”
The Nederland Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board meets every third Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. Their first meeting of the new year is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 16, 2024. Meetings can be attended online via WebEx.
For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/parks-recreation-open-space-advisory-board.