By Judy Lehn

The Town Trustees held a brief special meeting Tuesday so the Trustees could vote on two liquor licenses. The rest of the meeting was a Study Session.

Unanimous approval was given to the Berthoud Chamber of Commerce for their annual installation dinner, which will be held January 30 at Brookside Gardens.

Also approved unanimously was a temporary liquor license for Mark and George Williams the new owners of Log Cabin Liquors on Mountain Avenue.

Salazar makes final report after tendering her resignation

Fulfilling her contract agreement to make a final report to the Board, former Economic Development Consultant, Stephanie Salazar spoke to the “exceptional advantages” gained by the Berthoud Economic Resources Team (BERT) during her first employment by the town in the first part of 2009, and then again when her contract was reinstated in September, 2009. She stated that she aided town resources by tailoring the 2010 budget from $20,000 down to $10,000.

In other achievements, Ms. Salazar worked with the BERT Business Attraction Team to narrow down which properties the team was ready to promote, referring to the “shovel ready” properties of Champion Home Builders (now defunct in Berthoud), the 100-acre Ludlow property along County Road 17, the O’Malley Glen Project, Hwy 287 and CR 17.

Although she did not participate in the selection of the new BERT website, Ms. Salazar took credit for designing it, calling it “the Cadillac” of plans, to be used as a marketing tool.

In the Business Retention area, Ms. Salazar cited the success of the recent “Jingle Mingle,” Progressive Dinner, which was a combined effort by a team composed of four BERT members, Don Dana, the Chamber of Commerce President, the owners of J.B. Clymer’s, the Chef from Retro Bistro, and two CITIZENS FIRST board members. When queried about Salazar’s involvement in the event, no one involved could recall her being mentioned or attending any of the meetings.

Salazar received many kudos from her BERT team members and the Town Trustees.

Aims Community College information session

Dr. Marsi Liddell, Dean of Aims Community along with Michael Geile and Walter Richter, of the Aims Board of Trustees attended the meeting to tell the Trustees that they have decided to postpone the Berthoud Campus project due to budget constraints.

If the Aims initiative had passed, Aims could have collected $300,000 from Berthoud, but the project still would have been postponed. Weld County, who did pass the initiative, will be paying the mill levy in perpetuity.

Medical Marijuana issue still up in the air

Berthoud’s Police Chief Glen Johnson spoke to the negative issues still surrounding the subject of medical marijuana dispensaries. Specifically mentioned were waste disposal systems, burglaries, hold-ups and shootings that have been an issue around the state.

Invited guest Detective Darren Bloom from the City of Longmont gave an impressive PowerPoint presentation which highlighted the safety issues involved when individuals grow marijuana in their homes. Among those shown in photographs were jury-rigged electrical systems with multiple cords plugged into too few outlets, two many outlets being used, no cooling units, large volumes of water being used, often creating mold. He stated that there were probably 100-200 such homes in the Longmont area that would be considered non-compliant with the state statute regulating dispensaries. Detective Bloom stated that every community is waiting for the State of Colorado to pass legislation that will further define the definitions and limitations concerning the growing and distribution of medical marijuana.

Town Planner Tim Katers relayed the information that the latest ordnance passed by the Board sets a 300-foot limit from schools and licensed daycare centers for the dispensaries.

Town Attorney Bruce Fickel said that we should wait for the State of Colorado to come up with guidelines. He thinks that Amendment 20 was really designed for people to grow their own marijuana for medical use. He cautioned the dispensary owners in the room to be cautious, because when the State does further refine the statutes, they could be vulnerable. Each Trustee, when polled, agreed to wait for further information from the State. The current moratorium on licensing will expire on March 31. The Board does not want the moratorium to expire and will likely extend it.