The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, to discuss the rates for the Town’s Electric Vehicle chargers. The BOT also voted on contracting with a third-party company to complete an assessment of water lines in order to determine Nederland as a lead-free municipality.
Trustees were tasked with voting to approve or deny a contract with Kinetic Energy Services LLC (KES) for a required potholing project. The project is to ensure Nederland is in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule and involves inventorying 20% of the Town’s water service lines installed before 1960 to test if any are made of lead.
Utilities Department Manager Andrew Bliss reached out to five companies with requests for proposals; KES was chosen for their record of success in similar work for Boulder and Fort Collins, and for submitting the lowest bid for the cost of the project at $109,922.75.
The bid from KES covers the costs of a hydrovac truck, with an operator, a support pickup truck, the core drilling, the backfill service, and the creation and implementation of a traffic control plan.
Bliss provided the BOT with information indicating where money can be saved within the Utilities Department’s budget. $45,000 in savings can be made by postponing infrastructure improvement projects, including a water efficiency project and fire mitigation efforts; another $40,000 would come from delaying nonessential equipment maintenance and repairs.
KES estimates that the job will require two work crews and will take up to 10 working days to complete. Bliss added that the vacuum potholing method used by KES will be able to complete the job more efficiently than excavating equipment.
Trustee Kristopher Larsen asked if there was a particular fire mitigation project that was being postponed due to the changes in the Utilities department’s budget. Bliss answered that the money was budgeted despite there not being a specific plan, though mitigation around the water treatment plant and other such infrastructure was considered.
Town Administrator Jonathan Cain noted that he, Bliss, and Parks Manager Nicki Dunn were discussing pursuing a $100,000 grant to fund a bigger mitigation project that would encompass all of Town’s facilities.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the contract with KES.
The BOT revisited the discussion of the Town of Nederland becoming a “home rule” municipality, which involves the adoption of a Charter as the governing document. Becoming home rule could potentially allow Nederland citizens, rather than state government, to customize how it can address certain community issues without being dictated by state statutes.
Either an ordinance approved by the BOT calling for an election, or a petition signed by 5% of the town’s registered voters is required to begin the process of converting to home rule. Within 30 days of an election approving the move to home rule, a Charter Commission of at least 9 members would be formed.
The Charter Commission would have 180 days to properly draft a new town charter, after which it would be provided to the BOT for them to schedule an election and set the ballot title. Once the charter is approved it is filed with the Secretary of State; once officially adopted the charter can not be amended or repealed without a public vote.
Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen recently led a presentation on home rule at the Colorado Municipal League’s annual conference, as she had worked with the newly incorporated Town of Keystone on drafting their charter.
Madsen provided information about the process Keystone underwent, noting that their total cost for pursuing home rule, which consists of two elections and attorney’s wages, totaled roughly $30,000. She added that such a cost may be an issue for Nederland in pursuing home rule, as would the staff and community resources required.
Trustee Tania Corvalan suggested that the Town complete an audit of its municipal code, specifically to identify the state statutes that often cause issues. The Board considered the code audit a necessity before continuing any discussion regarding becoming home rule.
Cain stated that a code audit should be a priority after the completion of the Comprehensive Plan update, and that it should be discussed during strategic planning and added to the 2025 Town Budget.
Trustees reassessed the charging rates for the Town’s current Level 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) charger, and the upcoming Level 3 chargers. Despite being projected to earn $58,000 in revenue, the Level 2 EV charger, which has been in operation for most of 2024, has only yielded $284.36 due to a technical issue. Users of the EV charger have only been paying the $0.40 per kWh charging rate since August 7, 2024.
The Level 3 chargers are soon to be operational, with the BOT previously agreeing that they would charge a $0.50 per kWh rate. Due to concerns from the community that the rates may be too high, Town staff recommended reviewing the rate structure and discussing potential “community benefits and economic incentives” to be gained from recently identified opportunities.
Cain noted that community charging programs, which would offer a certain amount of free charging for residents and Town employees, exist and that further research would be required in order to ascertain the total savings to residents.
As for the charging rates, Cain recommended setting them closer to what the city of Boulder charges, bringing the charge for Level 2 EV chargers down to $0.32 per kWh, and maintaining the $0.50 per kWh rate for Level 3 chargers.
The BOT agreed that more data was required regarding the potential for community charging benefits before being able to approve pursuing such a program. A nod of four was also given, directing Town staff to lower the charging rate for Level 2 chargers.
The Board also approved the Town donating two vehicles to the Nederland Fire Protection District for their upcoming vehicle extrication training course. Parks Manager Dunn stated that the 1996 Subaru and 2001 Chevy Suburban are eligible for donation due to both being in a state of disrepair, causing neither to yield enough financial return for the Town if they were to auction or scrap them.
The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/boardof trustees.
