By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

The Berthoud Board of Trustees held their first meeting since June 13 on Tuesday with all but Mayor Pro Tem Mike Grace in attendance. Meeting topics covered the Mountain States Childrens Home, a sidewalk cost share program update, a resolution approving the preliminary plat for the Vantage subdivision, an informational presentation on oil and gas tranche 2 and a water policy update.

Mayor William Karspeck opened the meeting up to public comment. Chief of Thompson Valley’s EMS James Robinson was the only speaker who spoke of the trust between his role as a first responder and the community and how pleased he was to have that bond with the community.

The board moved on to approval of agenda items with all items approved unanimously by the board.

Regarding the 348 Massachusetts Ave. Alteration Application, the Historic Preservation Committee had two recommendations, the first being that the applicant changes the stone inlay to something more in-line with the era the building was built. The second recommendation was that the doors need to match the time period and the current ones are too modern. A motion to approve the application based on the recommendations of the Historic Preservation Committee was approved unanimously.

Walter Williams gave a presentation on the Mountain States Childrens Home, a program that assists at-risk youth. Williams and the children’s home are looking to improve the sidewalk outside of the property. The flagstone sidewalk is potentially nonrepairable and Williams is hoping to have it replaced with concrete.

On the topic of sidewalk repair, Keith Knoll updated the board on the town’s Sidewalk Replacement Cost Share Program. The program allows single-family homeowners to apply for a 50% reimbursement on the lowest contractor bid for repairs on sidewalks that pose drainage or safety issues, with flagstone sidewalk repairs only being reimbursed up to $3,000. Flagstone sidewalks were not part of the original program but were introduced as part of the updated plan.

Trustees discussed inspections to ensure a professional did the sidewalk renovation and mentioned the potential inclusion of commercial properties having access to the program as well. The plan will be updated again after the board discussion to include a footage threshold to accommodate corner plots and some leniency for the preservation of the historical flagstone sidewalks.

A quasi-judicial public hearing took place following the sidewalk cost share update covering the Vantage 7th filing preliminary plat. There were no speakers from the public and after a conversation with the board, a motion to approve the preliminary plat was passed unanimously.

After the passed motion, Michael Foote of the Foote Law Firm spoke of the tranche 2 part of the oil and gas regulatory rewrite. The tranche 2 preliminary draft covered multiple requirements for applicants, including the reports and plans needing to indicate how the operator plans to comply with the town’s regulations and protect the health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife. The board was happy with the presentation with only a few minor concerns regarding light emissions at night and air quality monitoring.

For the last item on the agenda, Pete Johnson gave an update on the town’s water policy. Johnson provided two options for the board to consider regarding how the town accepts water resources to support new development, specifically that a change to the Water Dedication Ordinance is not necessary but rather the implementation of the ordinance can be changed by a resolution to require water dedication when certain criteria are met.

Option 1 would require dedication of historical water rights which would require a change in town code and prevent removal of historical water rights as recommended by Town Administrator Christopher Kirk. Option 2 is tiered cash-in-lieu payments.

The board will meet again on July 26.