Claudia Schauffler, Nederland. Downtown Development Authorities (DDAs) are state-authorized financing mechanisms designed to catalyze the revitalization and redevelopment of the physical components of a downtown.

The most important goal of a DDA is to halt property value deterioration, increase property tax valuations, work toward eliminating the causes of deterioration, promote economic growth, and create and provide for the general operation and maintenance of the physical DDA assets.

A Plan of Development is required by state law, in the long-range master planning efforts for the downtown. A Plan of Development recognizes the needs of the downtown and is essentially a “plan” for potential projects in the downtown. Development or redevelopment, infrastructure including water, sewer, electric, streets, sidewalk, curb and gutter beautification are all part of this plan. The Plan identifies the physical boundaries of the DDA, and the state law provides that residents, property owners and business entities within that boundary have the potential to benefit from the enhanced investment.

Alongside our continuous beautification project with Elizabeth Allen and Coloring Colorado, the NDDA is partnering with the Town of Nederland to improve roads in the business district and alleviate parking issues with plans to create more parking spaces! Our Wayfinding, (directional informational signage) project is also exciting - think artwork and mountain inspired creativity! These are just three of the projects from the Master Plan the NDDA is working on. Wayfinding and parking will be discussed at the next NDDA meeting on August 14. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. 

The NDDA is also excited to offer free Wordpress development classes beginning on August 24, at HubNed from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tech guru Liz Hamilton of Maia Internet Consulting will instruct three FREE Beginner Website Development courses on August 24, September 7 and September 21. Class size is limited to 20 students. Register today by contacting Hope Jordan at ndda.ed@gmail.com.

During this class you will look at the structure of WordPress, and learn best web practices. The class will be working with the free version of WordPress online and will NOT cover coding, page builders, adding plugins etc. as that is beyond the scope of these first classes. This class will work with the WordPress.com hosted version of WordPress. Attendees will come away with a clear understanding of how to build a website and will have a working website they can take to the next level or keep as is for an inexpensive website option.

This is perfect for someone who does not have a website, and loves to be hands on in the development of their business website. It is also great for those folks who want to start blogging or writing and need a platform to publish their work. And remember, Liz Hamilton hosts Website Wednesdays on the second Wednesday of each month where she can assist you with any web development issues!

Finally, business owners in the NDDA district, are welcome to respond to the Event Survey available to you. The Event Survey will help the NDDA determine what issues we can tackle to assist our downtown businesses during events in Town. We started working on the parking issue, but we know there is more! If you did not receive a link to the Survey, please contact Hope Jordan at ndda.ed@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

(Originally published in the August 8, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)