On Tuesday night, the Berthoud Board of Trustees held a regular meeting whereby the board approved an ordinance amending an earlier ordinance regarding water supply costs to cover water supply and water infrastructure and listened to lengthy and detailed presentations regarding the proposed Turion development on the eastern edges of town.

Repeated technology problems plagued the meeting throughout. Audio problems from the boardroom afflicted the opening 30-plus minutes of the meeting and, as a result, those who were listening via the Zoom broadcast (including the Surveyor) were unable to decipher the public comment and other opening business of the meeting.

Later, Berthoud Town Attorney Erin Smith was unable to join the meeting via Zoom, despite repeated attempts. A little more than two hours into the meeting, Mayor Will Karspeck called for a recess in hopes that issues could be resolved. At 8:45 p.m., Karspeck gaveled the meeting back into session with Smith able to join via phone, but audio feedback continued to cause problems.

The board did vote unanimously, 6-0, with Trustee May Soricelli absent, to approve Ordinance 1300, which amended Ordinance 1272, approved in July 2019, which required developers to provide water rights sufficient to cover the usage by the homes built, using the basis of single-family equivalent (SFE), for calculating water rights secured or fees owed.

According to the ordinance in questions, “developers can satisfy that requirement by dedicating water rights and/or by paying a cash in lieu of water dedication fee (cash in lieu fee). Funds collected as cash in lieu fees are used by the town to further develop its water supplies, and to develop the infrastructure necessary to treat and deliver those supplies.” Town staff suggested the current cash in lieu fee of $16,500 per SFE be increased to $25,000 per SFE.

After some discussion, during which Town Administrator Chris Kirk outlined that securing water rights is both an expensive and time-consuming task for the town and the proposed fee increase represents an equivalent increase in the price of the unit cost of water as well as the costs associated with the construction and development of water supply infrastructure. The approved Ordinance 1300 which, in information provided to the trustees, only amended Ordinance 1272 to reflect the $16,500 to $25,000 per SFE fee increase.

The next and final order of business was the presentation of Deborah Early, an attorney from the firm Icenogle Seaver Pogue who are representing the developers, known as Front Range Holdings, LLC, behind the proposed Turion development (formerly known as Wilson Ranch) located on the southeastern quadrant of Highway 56 and I-25. The development has been in the works for close to 20 years since the early 2000s.

The development, which will be the largest and most complex in the history of Berthoud, as well as one of the largest in Colorado, encompasses an area of roughly 1,600 acres of land, will be shared among both Berthoud and the Town of Mead, and will, at full build out according to the initial design concepts, hold over 4,000 homes in addition to extensive commercial space, open lands and, potentially, a school. The project calls for a total of 34 phases to build out over the next 30 years, with anticipated completion in the year 2051.

The attorneys representing the developers and town staff were quick to point out that the trustees were not being asked to approve a land use plan, design concepts or anything else regarding the physical layout of any portion of the stie plan but were rather examining some proposed changes to the metro district service plan that will provide various infrastructure at the site. Based on estimates, total infrastructure for the site will require public improvement cost of $521 million (in current dollars) as the entire development is built out. Because of changes to how property values are assessed and calculated for property tax purposes (Coloradoans voted in the last election to remove the Gallagher Amendment), the metro district was required to approach both Berthoud and Mead with the amended and restated service plan.

Given the size, scope and complexity of the project, as well as the decades-long build out that is projected, trustees wanted to assure that safeguards financially protecting the town and current residents will be in place. As a result, discussion went on for an extended period between the trustees, Early and other representatives of the proposed project.

Board voted unanimously to keep public hearing open, and as a result, delay making a formal decision amending the service plan for the Turion metropolitan districts and the matter will be further discussed at the next board meeting on Feb. 8.