John Scarffe, Nederland.  The Town of Nederland Board of Trustees received requests for a Special Event Fee Waiver for Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center and a Plant Investment Fee discount for 508 W. Third Street during the regular meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, at 7 p.m. at the Nederland Community Center. The Board barely had a quorum for the meeting as the fourth Trustee arrived at 7:05 p.m., with Trustees Keven Mueller, Peter Fiori and Randy Lee absent.

Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center is planning a fund-raising concert to celebrate the change of season, in an effort to subsidize rising costs, according to background information. The cost of the Special Event Liquor License is $100, which would reduce any fund-raising profits that may be collected through the event.

Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center has submitted a request for a full fee waiver of 100 percent, according to background information. In May of 2015, the Board granted a 100 percent fee waiver to Wild Bear for a Special Event Liquor License application for a summer concert series.

Trustee Kristopher Larsen asked if the event will be at Wild Bear and said according to policy they get a 35 percent reduction on the fees. Trustee Charles Wood agreed that’s the Town policy.

Trustee Topher Donahue said he would be in favor of a full waiver. “We don’t follow the policy in every case. It’s a way of donating to them that’s not costing us money,” Donahue said.

Mayor Joe Gierlach agreed. “That’s great logic. Wild Bear is a huge asset to our community, the students and our environment, and we can’t afford to give them any money.”

Wood reiterated that it’s important for the Board to stay with its policy. This goes into the same pot as if we give an organization $10,000 in discretionary funds from the budget. It goes into the general fund so it is choosing to distribute money to Wild Bear outside of Town policy.

Gierlach said this was not true. To say we will waive the fees doesn’t mean it is added to the $10,000. If we only have $10,000, and one organization is simply asking for a fee waiver, it does not come out of the $10,000.

Larsen said he would be fine with 100 percent because the Board passed the same waiver in May. Donahue moved the 100 percent fee waiver, and the motion passed, with Wood voting ‘no.’ Trustee Wood said later that some Board members like to give rebates or discounts to pander to residents.

Ellen Sevigny and her builder, Jeff Combelic, submitted a request to the Board for a discount in the required Plant Investment Fees (PIF) associated with new housing. Town Administrator Alisha Reis said the applicants are seeking concessions for water and sewer.

This project falls in line with the Board’s intentions, Reis said. The ¾-inch residential water and sewer taps cost $14,804 in water fees and $8,481 in sewer fees, totaling $23,285.

The applicant requested a discount of 30 percent or $6,986. The applicant argued that the home will be zero energy and low water use, and Sevigny told the Board she is building a very small home.

Per the adopted fee discount and waiver policy, this type of application would be eligible for a base discount of 25 percent, or $5,821.25, under Category II (Citizens, private groups and other private organizations residing or with a principal place of business within Town), according to background information.

If awarded, the Public Works Manager would like to see all or most of the discount applied to the sewer side, given that the impact would be lessened on wastewater treatment in the case of low water use, according to background. Water rights and other infrastructure to deliver water would remain the same. If water uses at the property are expanded in the future, the discount for PIFs should be reconsidered.

In 2014, the Board granted a similar request for property located at 80 Big Springs Drive, according to background. At its November 3, 2015, meeting, the Board also granted a 25 percent waiver on PIFs for a property located at 55 Indian Peaks Drive.

Combelic said he has lived in Gold Hill for 41 years and has had a construction company since 1993. He has built two passive solar homes in the Nederland area, which are hybrid, zero energy homes.

Sevigny wanted to design a home at 508 W. Third across from the fire station, which will be quite compact, but all conveniences are there. The house will have a solar array and a sun space collector to get it to zero, so she is asking for a utility rebate. Any rebate will go to making it zero, and the house also will be able to power a hybrid car.

“I’ve heard you all talk about your energy savings initiative and here’s a piece,” Combelic said. “We appreciate any support you can give us. When you look at it and have no utility bill, and with the rebates, you come out ahead. If you put intakes for an electric car it pays off.”

During public comment, Nederland Resident Roger Cornell said that discounts should be the exception and not the rule, according to the ordinance regarding fee waivers. He does not read in this policy where the Town could give away tens and thousands of dollars in rebates.

Back in the late 1980s, the volunteer Board was just kind of winging it, Cornell said. At that time, the Town had $500,000 in the water and sewer fund, but ensuing boards continued to use the sewer fund any time they needed some money.

Eventually they actually did question the practice and finally set up separate accounts, Cornell said. Plant fee money was untouchable and was for plant investment. “What you are doing by giving the funds away is essentially the same thing.”

Cornell told the Board it should declare a moratorium on plant investment fee waivers. The next plant will probably cost $20 million to construct.

“You should not consider anything else as important as this,” Cornell said. He suggested the Board separate the PIF from the discount rate, and work with the staff to establish a criteria when fee waivers are okay.

Mayor Gierlach said: “I’m fully aware of how this fund has been robbed in the past, but it’s not this applicant’s fault, and this is an ideal project and is what we want to encourage . . . A project like this meets a lot of our values, and this is not a 100 percent request.

“I am extraordinarily grateful that people want to invest in our community. Sometimes it’s real hard to be able to invest in our community,” Gierlach said. “We’re now seeing some fabulous projects coming forward. I’m in favor of this fee waiver and definitely in favor of having a discussion about it.”

Trustee Topher Donahue said he is watching big homes constructed in Big Springs, and this house meets the Town’s sustainability goals. “I’m in favor of this waiver.”

Trustee Wood said the Town policy does not address the PIF. “We should have a better policy,” Wood said. “It would serve everyone if we align our policies.”

The Town is beginning to set precedent, Wood said, explaining that he can’t vote for the waiver just because the Town made mistakes in the past. “I get the case that it’s a very small house, and we should write the policy so it includes that,” Wood said.

Trustee Larsen said this project is totally in line with what Nederland wants to see in town. This building is very clearly reducing the load on waste water treatment, but nothing restricts them from having a garden and a lot of water usage. “I’m in favor of a 25 percent waiver for sewer only and would be flexible to 30 percent.”

Larsen made a motion for a 30 percent waiver to waste water fees for the project, and the Board approved the motion. The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees was Tuesday, December 1, at 7 p.m. at scheduled for December 15, 2015 and has been canceled.