Niwot LID board seats newest member at October meeting

In its first face-to-face meeting since March 2020, the Niwot Local Improvement District advisory committee heard a request to fund Niwot Holiday Magic, discussed the recent strategic planning meeting, and got an update on the public parking lot. It was also the first meeting for new business representative Keith Waters, who was appointed to a five-year term by the Boulder County Board of Commissioners last month. Waters is a professor at the CU College of Music and co-owner of Inkberry Books in Cottonwood Square. He replaces longtime member Bruce Warren, whose second term expired in February, but was extended when no candidate stepped forward to fill the vacancy.

Treasurer’s Report

LID Treasurer Bruce Rabeler started the meeting with an update to the board on the LID’s finances, starting with revenue. In July, the district collected a total of $17,780, bringing the year-to-date total to $137,132, up 18 percent from the same period in 2020. Accommodation/food service continued to rebound, accounting for $6,317 of revenue, the highest total since August 2020 ($6,794).

However, the Colorado Department of Revenue also subtracted $4,073 from the professional/tech services sector in July, for reasons that weren’t entirely clear to Rabeler, though he said that he suspects it’s a clawback of overpayments, possibly going back as far as two years. In 2019, the professional/tech services sector earned $2,612, which rose to $6,262 in 2020. Through June 2021, collections in that sector are $2,775.

“It wasn’t on my radar,” Rabeler said of the surprise deduction. “It was just kind of creeping up. Its numbers are so small compared to other sectors, so that was a surprise. But, to me, given the history of the numbers, it falls in line to where we were historically.”

The reversal prompted several questions from board members, but Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin also lacked a definitive explanation. He agreed with Rabeler that a reimbursement is a “logical explanation,” and said the county finance office is seeking a more detailed response.

“If there was nothing collected in that sector, then it would be $0, so something happened.”

As for LID expenses in 2021, so far the board has approved $182,744 in funding requests, not counting October’s pending requests of $21,423. If approved, LID expenditures for the year jump to $204,167, or $54,854 over the annual allotment of $149,313. More than half ($30,007) of the overage is going towards additional parking lot costs, a one-time expense.

Funding Requests

Deborah Read Fowler, vice president of the Niwot Business Association, requested $13,450 for holiday events spanning three weekends, starting on Friday, Nov. 26. Dubbed “Niwot Holiday Magic,” it comprises Enchanted Evening, the annual holiday parade, and the two weekends of the Holiday Fayre by the Women’s International Club of Niwot (WINC). According to Fowler, combining the formerly separate events under one banner has allowed the NBA to “maximize marketing,” while reducing costs for advertising, musicians and other services. Expanding the celebration to three weekends will also bring more visitors to town, she hopes.

But the high price tag prompted questions from member Heidi Storz about how “success” is measured for Niwot’s events, aside from visitor count.

“Do you have any other metrics from years past about how successful this event was in terms of revenues or anything else?” she said. “It’s the most expensive event of any that we’ve funded this year, and I would be curious how truly successful it was.”

This launched a prolonged discussion about keeping more detailed records on attendance and sales at events, and how to make LID-funded events more self-sustainable. Ultimately, Fowler offered a revised request of $11,000 after member Eric Bergeson, current president of the NBA, offered to make up the difference. The revised request was approved unanimously.

Up next was Chuck Klueber, head of the NBA streetscapes committee, who requested $7,973 for holiday decorations and lighting along 2nd Avenue and in Whistle Stop Park, a slight increase over 2020 ($7,830) due to higher labor costs. Installation will take place ahead of Enchanted Evening, slated for Friday, Nov. 26. This request was also approved by a unanimous vote.

New Business

The members next discussed an initiative that came out of its strategic planning retreat, held Oct. 2. In lieu of November’s monthly meeting, the board has invited leaders from Niwot’s community organizations to a roundtable discussion about how best to share resources and coordinate efforts over the next five years. Among the groups invited are the NBA, the Niwot Community Association, the Niwot Cultural Arts Association, the Niwot Historical Society, Niwot Youth Sports, the Rotary Club of Niwot, and the local schools. The board will then use the feedback to help inform the LID’s five-year strategic plan, last updated in 2016.

“When the LID started, our funds were quite limited…and we were limited in what we were doing, and had to be very, very careful in our funding,” former chair Laura Skaggs said. “And we still are careful and prudent stewards of the tax dollars, but we have a larger pool of resources now, and we want to make sure that we're spending productively across the community.” The LID statute has been amended several times since 1993, each time initiated by the Niwot LID, to allow direct funding of events as well as marketing and promotional expenditures, as long as they benefit the LID business district.

Old Business

Kleuber also updated the board on the opening of the new public parking lot on the west side of Niwot, which has been delayed since July due to an issue with the grading. According to Klueber, and then verified by Ruzzin, Boulder County and the NBA have come to a tentative agreement with contractor Whitestone Construction to resolve the problem, and construction could restart as early as October 18.