At the regular meeting of the Berthoud Board of Trustees, the trustees approved the appointments of several residents to the citizen volunteer commissions, approved a fee waiver request for a pair of homes to be built by Berthoud Habitat for Humanity, and listened to a presentation regarding the ongoing decision as to regulations regarding oil and gas operations within town limits.

The board voted, unanimously, to appoint resident Clifford Brett Wing to the Planning Commission, Earl Fashbaugh, Kathy Karpiel, and Leslie Moore to the Historic Preservation Committee (HPAC), Annie Murphy and Callie West to the Parks, Open Space, Recreation, and Trails Committee and Dale Freund to the Tree Committee.

As the second order of business, the board voted unanimously to approve a request from Berthoud Habitat for Humanity to waive fees for the construction of two homes on North Fourth Street. Per town ordinance adopted in 2003, the board is permitted to waive the fees for up to two homes per year to support the Habitat for Humanity organization, as Town Administrator Chris Kirk stated, “we’ve been doing this for many, many years, these waivers help keep those homes affordable.”

In a letter to the board, Berthoud Habitat for Humanity Executive Director, Jan Dowker, wrote, “The support that Berthoud Habitat for Humanity has received from the Mayor and Trustees to promote homeownership for low-income families in our community has made a significant difference in building 18 homes to date, with the 19th under construction. These homes will be #20 & #21.”

The board approved the request to waive the building permit fees, including capital investment and impact fees, but not the water tap fee of $5,500 and wastewater tap fee of $6,350, in accordance with prior precedent, for two new homes located at 1762 and 1764 N. 4th Street.

The board then heard from attorney Mike Foote, of Foote Law, LLC, who prior to beginning his legal practice served the Colorado State legislature as a Democrat serving Boulder County from 2013-2021 regarding the continuing discussions regarding the town’s moratorium on oil and gas extraction operations within city limits. While Foote, as well as Kirk, both stated Tuesday night’s presentation was the next step in what figures to be a long process, the presentation provided further information regarding regulations set forth in light of Senate Bill 181, which allows local municipalities to install additional regulations on oil and gas above and beyond those established by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

According to the information provided, “Counsel outlined during the June 28, 2022 meeting a proposal of splitting the ordinance rewrite into three tranches. The first tranche would address the location of oil and gas facilities, including setbacks of new facilities from existing structures and areas and reciprocal setbacks between new structures and existing oil and gas facilities. The second tranche would address public health, safety, welfare, and environmental protections required for oil and gas facilities. The third tranche would address the permitting process, financial assurances, and enforcement of the ordinance.”

The proposal outlines a series of 11 meetings, at minimum to be held over the coming months, and possibly years, during which the board will make a series of decisions to ultimately codify a single, all-encompassing ordinance.

The board was largely in agreement that a final decision must be made at the end of the process but also expressed interest in hearing from other parties with expertise on the subject, in particular, hearing from industry experts as well as receiving an outline of regulations and existing ordinances enacted or under consideration by neighboring and similarly sized municipalities in the region.

Lastly, the board listened to a public hearing presented by Town Planner Adam Olinger regarding a Planning Commission-approved request for rezoning from Ag (agriculture) to R-1 (single-family residential) of a 0.41 acres tract of land known as Botterill-Marsh on the Hwy 56/1st Street area on the eastern portion of town.

The information packet stated, “The current property owners wish to use this property to build a single-family residence for the Applicant’s father-in-law. However, the zoning and the historic designation must be resolved, the purpose of this rezoning request.” The applicants, in January of this year, approached HPAC and secured approval to change the size of the historic lot, which includes a historic barn building. The homeowners spoke before the board asking for approval, stating the difficulties that not rezoning their land would cause as related to the access to their property and their established landscaping. The board voted unanimously to approve the request.

Following the vote on the rezoning request, the board entered into an executive session to discuss the legal machinations of the potential sale of the Old Town Hall site on Third Street. The next meeting of the Berthoud Town Board is scheduled for Oct. 11.