Town Board rejects service plan agreement for proposed Turion development
At the regular meeting of the Berthoud Board of Trustees on Feb. 8, the board handled a lot of business.
The board heard presentations from three of the town advisory committees.
The Tree Committee reported that 32 trees were planted, 40 trees were removed, 67 trees were pruned and 61 trees were treated, 20 ash and 41 spruce. The committee projects to plant “~200 trees” in 2022.
Berthoud resident Phil Klein, chair of the Parks, Open Space, Recreation and Trails (PORT) Committee reported the committee has received a lot of feedback related to the purview of the committee. Among the highlights, Klein stated improvements are needed for signage on the town’s trail connections, increased access to pickleball courts and assurance that the new designs for Town Park do not create a lack of ballfield space in town while the Richardson Park concept plans are designed, finalized, approved and developed. Klein offered thanks to the residents and the town board for their support of PORT and the committee’s related projects.
Todd Duval, newly appointed chairman of the Berthoud Historic Preservation Committee (HPAC) reported that the board had designated two new historic landmarks – the J.M. Lutener House, located at 426 Bimson Ave., and the United Brethren Church at 348 Turner Ave. Duval also said HPAC had approved alterations to six homes in town and that the committee is short-staffed and encouraged citizens interested to join the committee.
The board heard a presentation regarding access to broadband in town. Berthoud town staff has been working with neighboring towns of Johnstown, Milliken and Mead to better secure the infrastructure necessary to provide broadband services to the municipalities. After soliciting feedback from residents, the collective town staff decided to recommend Allo Communications as it “provides the best option to deploy Broadband service across all four Towns.”
The board was asked to authorize town staff to engage with Allo Communications, in partnership with Mead, Milliken and Johnstown, in developing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for broadband deployment in Berthoud. The board voted 6-1 in support of the proposal.
Following the vote on the broadband proposal, which went more than 90 minutes beyond the budgeted time, the board went into executive session and communications were cut off.
The board reconvened in public view at 10:06 p.m.
Following the executive session, the board brought up the long-running issue of the Turion development, formerly known as Wilson Ranch, the 1,600-acre, roughly 4,000 home development located on the southeastern corner of I-25 and U.S. Highway 56. The proposed development, under the direction of Front Range Investment Holdings, LLC, of which Microsoft co-founder and former chairman Bill Gates is an investor, is a phased project that, if approved, will not be fully built out for at least 30 years.
Beginning in 2004, the board at that time approved a metro district service plan to provide public infrastructure for the development and in October 2021, a second amended and restated service plan was submitted by the developer to the board, along with the same proposal to the Town of Mead, which is responsible for a portion of the area.
Given the size and scope of the proposed development in its entirely, which will also include substantial commercial space, there will be a significant need for public improvements for associated infrastructure to provide the necessary water, wastewater, streets and roads and other various entities associated with the development of Turion, requiring a mil levy in accordance with Colorado statute. The board debated a number of facets of the project and its relationship to Berthoud, the mil levy being only a portion of the discussion, before voting 4-3 to reject the amended service plan.
Considering the prior vote was made after 11 p.m. the board voted unanimously to delay the public hearing on the Vantage Neighborhood Master Plan and Preliminary Plat until the next board meeting on Feb. 22.
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