The Berthoud Town Board met Tuesday night for a regularly scheduled meeting. Topics discussed included the project bid award for the Safe Routes to School sidewalk project, Heron Lakes Commons preliminary plat and public hearing, and a public hearing and discussion on an amendment to the Berthoud Heritage metro district service plan.

The meeting began with a brief moment of silence led by Mayor Will Karspeck as an act of solidarity with the community of Boulder in response to the “senseless violence” that took place on Monday as 10 people were shot and killed at a King Soopers grocery store.

A motion was made to approve the consent agenda by trustee Tim Hardy and seconded by trustee Lonnie Stevens and was unanimously approved.

Stephanie Brothers the Public Works Director for the town presented the bid information that had been received to complete a sidewalk project. The town received the Safe Routes to School grant funding for $300,000 in the summer of 2019 from the Colorado Department of Transportation. Brothers explained that all overage costs for the project would be the town’s responsibility to cover. The plans were placed out for big at the end of February with 9 contractors bidding on the project. The project had not been awarded by CDOT yet as the trustees were given the opportunity to look over the bid information and make a recommendation of who the project should be awarded to. The low bid for the project came from Mountain Constructors of $399,026. Brothers said the town had previously done work with Mountain Constructors as they did the infrastructure project for the First Street and Highway 56 roundabout. Town Administrator Chris Kirk summarized the plan as, “In short what we are doing is creating a backbone of ADA accessible sidewalks along Welch and Seventh Street primarily.” The project is intended to connect neighborhoods east of the railroad tracks like the Mary’s Farm neighborhood to schools and the rest of the town. Trustee Stevens made a motion to accept the bid seconded by Trustee Mike Grace and passed unanimously.

Community development director Curt Freese then presented information on the Heron Lakes Commons preliminary plat which the board had previously seen in January and was presented to the Planning Commission. Located on the southwest corner of Berthoud Parkway and U.S. Highway 287 the area is zoned for commercial use. The area is designated as a C2 commercial zone Freese described as accommodating car-oriented businesses like fast-food restaurants and gas stations.

Freese explained that the only differences to this plan came from three main conditions and recommendations made by the planning commission and the board which included adding a trail along Berthoud Parkway and U.S. Highway 287, expanded landscaping and buffering of all the open spaces and medians, and cohesion of the architectural plan which the developer voluntarily agreed to which will meet architecture standards of the Heron Lakes community. The site will also be required to include electric vehicle charging stations. Freese continued by explaining that this phase of approval was predominantly for the infrastructure, technical, and engineering standpoint to be reviewed by the town’s engineer and outside agencies. Freese and the planning commission did recommend the board approve the plans with those conditions being met. Stephanie Hanson with Ripley Design and the applicant Jon Hause were present to answer questions. The meeting was opened to public comment but no individuals spoke.

The trustees had an extended conversation with the developer about additional buffers and landscaping on the west side of the area which transitions into residential townhomes. Stephanie Hanson with Ripley Design who has worked on the project said there is an additional buffer already planned from previous feedback. Huase said, “We have an enormous amount of landscaping, we are over landscaped as far as legal requirements by a long shot, we’ve gone out of our way it’s not like this project is lacking in any way.”  Mayor Karspeck responded by saying he appreciated the developer going “above and beyond” and, “I feel enough is enough at this point.” Trustee May Soricelli moved to approve the plat and the motion was seconded by trustee Maureen Dower. The motion passed unanimously.

The final issue of the night was approving the amended Berthoud Heritage metro district service plan. The long-lived project has been in development since 2005 and encompasses the Heron Lakes and Vantage communities. The applicant Jim Birdsall made a presentation about the communities and the public amenities that would be permanently available as a result of the proceeds from the metro district including trails, the TPC Colorado golf course, a public pool and access to Lonetree Reservoir. No one from the public made comment. After discussion of the trials and the finances of the district and in light of the fact no major changes were being made a motion was made by Trustee Stevens to approve which was seconded by Trustee Soriceli and passed unanimously.

Finally, in staff reports several mentions were made thanking town staff and the companies who contract with the town including Jones Excavating & Plumbing who removed snow after winter storm Xylia. Kirk stated he had received good feedback along with some complaints on the town’s response to cleaning up after the storm.