By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

Berthoud’s regularly scheduled town board meeting was held on Tuesday. Two trustees, Sean Murphy and Karl Ayers, were not in attendance. Items discussed in the meeting included mosquito spraying, Ludlow annexation substantial compliance, the I-25 Interchange Improvements Project and business licensing.

Linda Wilson spoke about the proposed artwork at the new storage facility during the opening of the public comment period. Wilson is concerned that the potential artwork may be too distracting and that the weeds in the surrounding area should have been removed long ago. There were no other speakers present.

Following public comment, Trustee May Albrecht wished to remove the item Mosquito Spray Plan — from the consent agenda along with Trustee Tim Hardy wanting to remove the Sidewalk Cost Share Update. The motion to approve the consent agenda without the two items was passed unanimously

Trustee Hardy proposed that contracting companies be put on the town’s website with Town Administrator Chris Kirk pointing out that adding private companies to the town’s website could create issues by showing favoritism. After clarification, Hardy and the other members were on board to approve the Sidewalk Cost Share Update within the consent agenda.
Albrecht suggested that the town take an alternative approach to mosquito spraying and find a compromise to spraying in town. Mayor William Karspeck claimed that the current mosquito policy does not make sense and that the board needs to find some common ground to establish consistent guidelines. Kirk stated that the plan is to spray at 10 p.m. Friday so as not to impact pollinators as the board had decided the course of action in their previous meeting.

Environmental issues were at the forefront of Hardy’s mind, as he does not see West Nile as causing a potential pandemic. Trustee Jeff Butler echoed the environmental sentiment but feels that the board needs to have a stricter policy on the vector index issue regarding spraying and the overall handling of mosquitos infected with viruses.

A motion presented by Albrecht to suspend the current spraying policy was passed 3-2, with Karspeck and Butler voting against it. The town will no longer be spraying for mosquitos as planned.

The board moved on to discuss the Ludlow Annexation Substantial Compliance item. All statute requirements were met, and a motion to accept the annexation petition filed by Ludlow Farms, LLC as being substantially compliant with C.R.S. 31-12-107 and 31-12-108 as well as Sections 308-103 and 30-8-104 of the Municipal Code and set Sept. 12, 2023, as a public hearing date to evaluate the Annexation and Change of Zone was approved unanimously.

Next on the agenda was the I-25 Interchange Improvements Project. The idea for the project is to add artwork/sculptures to the roundabouts that lead to I-25. The total expenses for the project, which include construction, utilities and art is to be $1,744,753.50.

A motion to award the I-25 Roundabout Improvements Project to Integrated Site Solutions in the amount of $1,356,670 and allow the town administrator to authorize any necessary change orders and to include expenses in the 2023 mid-year budget update to increase the total available budgeted funds to $1.475 million was approved unanimously.

Following the discussion of the improvement project, the board discussed business licensing. The purpose of the discussion was to amend and clarify the requirements in the municipal code that pertain to business licensing. The proposed ordinance will repeal existing requirements for businesses to obtain a Berthoud sales tax license, (The ordinance does not repeal the Colorado sales tax requirements.) from the Town of Berthoud and instead require a general business license.

A motion to approve Ordinance 1320, an ordinance to repeal local sales tax requirements and require general licensing of businesses was approved unanimously.
During trustee reports Albrecht is concerned that the Berthoud sign that is visible coming from Longmont is fading and needs to be updated. Butler wishes to see the town’s entrances be “spruced up,” echoing Wilson’s concerns from the public comment.

This was Trustee Butler’s last meeting as he will be resigning on July 31. Butler is moving out of town and decided it is time to hang up the spurs.
“It’s been an honor and a pleasure to serve. This is a little bittersweet for me, I’m moving on in life,” Butler said. “It’s been a sincere pleasure to serve with you guys.”
The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 8.