By Brendan Henry

The Surveyor

Berthoud’s Board of Trustees held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday. Topics included the Bat Week proclamation, appointments to volunteer committees, a Habitat for Humanity permit fee waiver request and landscape guidelines.
Much like a previous meeting, many members of the public expressed concern over the town’s short-term rental policy. Berthoud residents complained of streets filled with parked cars, unsupervised children wandering off onto private property, overfilled homes providing short-term rental space, concerns over the 30-day compliance coming up and impacting reservations of people coming from out-of-state, and general rowdiness of renters. Mayor Will Karspeck acknowledged the concern of people with short-term rentals and the board will hold a study session on the topic on Nov. 7.
The board unanimously approved all action-consent items, including the agenda minutes from last week, the agenda for the night’s meeting, the town hall roof replacement project bid award, Resolution 2023-22 Oil and Gas Administrative Suspension, the October 2023 board report and the Colorado Open Lands Grant letter of support.
Karspeck went on to sign a proclamation for Bat Week, taking place from Oct. 24-31. Bats have had a population loss due to White-nose syndrome and the proclamation intends to spread awareness and promote population growth to maintain the local ecosystem.
Trustees Sean Murphy and Chris Kurtz went over applications for the planning commission, recommending Abigail Smith be reappointed and serve her three-year term until May 2026. They also supported Joe Donnelly to fill an empty seat, and this was approved unanimously by the board.
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Grace and Trustee Tim Hardy interviewed applicants for the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee and the board unanimously accepted their recommendations, those being Fred Maine and Lee Hardies.
Trustees Karl Ayers and Kurtz interviewed applicants for the Parks, Open Space, Recreation and Trails (PORT) Committee. The applicants recommended were Lauren Roth, Carolyn Hobson, Sean Henry and Kristle White.
Karspeck and Murphy interviewed four applicants for the Tree Advisory Committee and selected Richard Kurcab and Steven Allen. This was passed by the board unanimously.
Joe Rohnke and Danyelle Strantz were both selected by the board for the Youth Advisory Commission.
Community Development Director Anne Johnson informed the board that Habitat for Humanity is requesting building permit fees, including capital investment and impact fees, for the latest Habitat home located at 1766 North 4th Street. The board motioned to approve the request of the Berthoud Habitat for Humanity to waive fees for the home at 1766 North 4th Street, except for the water tap/plant investment fee and the wastewater tap/plant investment fee and this was approved unanimously.
Johnson returned to present a draft that is a set of guidelines to enable the desired outcome for the town of Berthoud that includes landscaped parcels, water conservation, and stormwater management. The board agreed to schedule a meeting for Nov. 28 to consider the adoption of the Town of Berthoud Landscape Design Guidelines.
The next meeting will be held on Nov. 7.