By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

Berthoud’s town board met on their regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting to discuss items including a 2022 audit presentation, Caring Pathways’ Special Use Permit request, a Town Park bid award and a business licensing introduction.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Grace began the meeting by opening up to public comment regarding parks. Herbert Hergott was the first to approach the podium to speak about Town Park’s scheduling, as he would like to see the pickleball courts stay open for the summer and would like to see a construction fence be put up in a particular area to ensure access to the courts. Resident Richard Alexander felt the same way, as he feels that construction is nice for children but is hindering the adult experience by limiting access to the pickleball courts.

Berthoud resident Lauren Bowling spoke of the Berthoud Adaptive Park Project, a project that started in 2021 that looks to improve her local playground in Farmstead and is looking to raise $500,000 to see her aspirations for her project come to fruition.

After unanimous approval of the agenda, the board moved on to the 2022 audit presentation. The audit was performed by Hinkle & Company and upon completion on May 2, 2023 there were no material findings. Trustee Jeff Butler made a motion to accept the audited financial statements for the 2022 financial year and this was unanimously approved.

Next on the agenda was Caring Pathways Special Use Permit, presented by Anne Johnson. Caring Pathways provides veterinarian services and is looking to build a crematorium in Berthoud. Johnson presented layouts of the building found on 502 N 2nd Street and added that it met all conditions for the permit.
Applicant Jeff Lewis gave a presentation to the board, speaking about the cremation machines, new jobs for Berthoud and an introduction of Front Range residents to town due to the reaching market for pet cremation. Trustee May Albrecht was concerned that other surrounding business owners may have issues with a cremation facility neighboring them. Lewis responded that those businesses were notified and there were no comments from those business owners.
Lewis stated that business hours would be 24 hours, seven days a week as veterinarians work around the clock. Addressing the concern of smoke coming from the building, Lewis stated that there would be only heatwaves coming from the smokestacks.

Mayor Pro-Tem Grace opened up to public comment on the crematorium, and resident Leslie Tassie felt that a pet crematorium would be a hindrance to the quaintness of the town. Richard Basset, who lives near the proposed facility, had concerns about air quality, decreasing property value and how it meets the light industrial classification. Other concerns from residents were the overabundance of veterinarian and dentistry offices in town along with the proximity of the crematorium to the middle of town.

Lewis addressed that air quality will not be an issue with afterburners used in the crematorium and was not familiar with the cited report that crematoriums devalue the property. Town Administrator Christopher Kirk stated that the light industrial classification is broad and that the crematorium would fit within the category.

Kirk reminded the board that their responsibility is not to pick and choose what businesses come in but to ensure that businesses comply with city code and do not negatively affect the town as a whole. Trustees Karl Ayers, Sean Murphy and Albrecht were concerned with the proximity to the downtown area but understood that they cannot gatekeep what types of businesses come in. Trustee Butler noted that he has driven past many crematoriums located in downtown areas and never noticed and identified that Caring Pathways meets all city guidelines.

Regarding the motion to approve of the crematorium, Trustee Murphy looked to amend the motion to restrict hours of operation for the furnaces to Monday through Friday. Trustee Albrecht added an amendment for Caring Pathways to utilize discreet signage. The Special Use Permit with the two added amendments was approved in a unanimous motion.

The board moved on to the Town Park bid award, which was presented by Jeremy Olinger. The Town Park project was part of the original 2018 master plan and has since been updated to include a public splash pad, leisure lawns and playgrounds. The 2023 budget for construction is $6.25 million.

Community concern was that the pickleball community would be limited by construction and recommended that the courts stay open even if parking was limited. Other concerns were the pushback on the construction timeline and how it may affect parking and limit children’s ability to play.

Trustee Albrecht was concerned about the timing of the park construction, referring to it as “Ghost Town Park.” Trustee Butler felt that the board cannot pick and choose between the construction of the park and access to pickleball courts. Construction of the park takes priority in the eyes of Trustee Murphy, especially because of the rise in cost if construction happened to be delayed.

The overall sentiment of the board was that the park should be built sooner rather than later, as the project has been discussed for several years now. Trustee Ayers felt that the pickleball courts are an amenity of the park, and the park as a whole should be the priority rather than just a single amenity. Ayers still wishes for a delay in construction as long as possible to ensure the pickleball community can use the courts but does not want to hold off on the overall project.

The motion to award the town park phase one project to KCI and authorize the town administrator to work within the requested amount of $6.25 million by coordinating with contractors and staff to modify and reduce project cost through alternate selections to complete the park project in its entirety was approved unanimously.

The final agenda item, an introduction to business licensing, was presented by Christian Samora. This introduction included a proposed ordinance that will repeal existing requirements for businesses to obtain a sales tax license from Berthoud and instead require a general business license.
The board will meet again on June 27.