At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Berthoud Board of Trustees, the board received some brief feedback regarding the results of the National Community Survey and also heard a presentation from an attorney regarding oil and gas regulations in town. The board did not take any votes or make any decisions at the meeting.

Prior to taking up official business, the board once again heard feedback from residents regarding the proposed bike park on the northwestern side of town. Opinion was mixed, with one resident outlining a study conducted on his own time regarding parking, traffic and park usage before being cut off due to time limitations. Another resident expressed concern regarding traffic on Fourth Street, not related to the bike park, and cited public safety concerns along the roadway.

At the urging of Mayor Pro Tem Mike Grace, Town Administrator Chris Kirk gave a brief outline of the results of the National Community Survey. The board will receive an in-depth review on the results of the survey – one which is conducted nationwide to provide a benchmark where towns of similar demographic makeups can compare citizen feedback against one another – at the upcoming board retreat. “I wanted it discussed in public,” Grace said, rather than have the results, “buried as an agenda item.”

Kirk happily obliged Grace’s request and, in what he admitted was a very brief summation of the results, said, “generally speaking, nine in 10 residents rated Berthoud a positive place to live,” and cited the survey is statistically and scientifically valid. Kirk said the areas where the town received less than ideal feedback was expected, e.g., a bedroom community like Berthoud is not going to score highly on having a wide variety of shopping options.

Kirk did make note of citizen feedback that was below the national benchmark on the issue of the town’s water supply stating, “There is a lot of lingering belief water infrastructure is bad … there’s been a lot of improvements,” and mentioned the recent disruption was uncommon, quickly addressed and repaired and that other similar-sized municipalities see water issues at a higher frequency and often at a more severe level.

The second order of business for the board members who were present revolved around the presentation on extending the current or possibly even increasing regulations and prohibitions on oil and gas development in town.

The board heard from attorney Mike Foote, of Foote Law, LLC, who prior to beginning his legal practice served the Colorado State legislature as a Democrat from Boulder County from 2013-2021. Foote used a great deal of legal jargon to argue against increased oil and gas development within city limits, offering advice for the board to support continuing the moratorium, drawing a contrast between regulations put forth in Boulder County and Weld County to support his argument.

Expressing outright hostility to the oil and gas industry, Mayor Will Karspeck said, “I have no love for this industry … (I am) generally fearful of when these industries come in. I would push this, Mr. Foote, to the legal max you can do.”

Trustee Tim Hardy took a more nuanced approach, saying he understands concerns that some residents might be fearful of emissions and the potential for ground and water supply pollution that might occur in areas neighboring oil and gas extraction operations, but also stated that industry supports a great deal of jobs and provides enormous funding for public services, such as fire, police and education. Said Hardy, “I just want something that is very workable but makes everybody, hopefully, cooperative about it, but is not super, super restrictive.”

The next board meeting will take place at Town Hall on July 12.