Niwot LID vacancy goes unfilled

The Niwot Local Improvement District’s advisory committee may be without a Niwot Community Association representative for at least the next few months, after the Boulder Board of County Commissioners office was unable to appoint a candidate for the open position during the latest recruitment period. According to county liaison Mark Ruzzin, both a small number of applications and other priorities in the BOCC office contributed to the inability to seat a new member.

“The commissioners, as you can imagine, are extremely busy right now,” Ruzzin told members at their monthly meeting on Feb. 1, referring to recovery and relief efforts related to the Marshall Fire. “And so, with limited bandwidth, they've decided not to do any interviews for boards and commissions this year, and it just isn't possible to supplement the application through an interview process, so they've decided to hold off on making the appointment.”

Leaving the board is longtime member and former chair Laura Skaggs, who decided to step down one year ahead of the end of her second of two five-year terms. The LID board consists of nine members, one each from the NCA and the Niwot Business Association, plus three local residents and four local business owners.

The county will reopen the application period for the vacancy, with hopes of placing a new member for a five-year term. Ruzzin said he will reach out to the NCA in the meantime to help facilitate the application process.

This is the second time in the past two years that a LID board vacancy has been extended. In 2021, no qualified candidate applied for a business representative opening, but departing member Bruce Warren agreed to extend his term until a new member was appointed. Skaggs would not commit to a similar arrangement this year, but did not rule it out, either.

“I did sort of picture this as the last meeting,” she said. “I assumed that everything was in place. And I think I might want to hear from the NCA as to whether they would like me to keep doing this as well.”

In other business, the board heard more good news in the financial report, considered two funding requests, and continued work on the Niwot five-year strategic plan.

Treasurer’s Report

The district earned $27,229 in November 2021 and is now on pace to outdistance 2020 earnings by more than 20%, treasurer Bruce Rabeler reported in his monthly financial update. Through 11 months, the LID collected $241,455 in sales tax revenue, an increase of 24 percent over the same period in 2020 ($194,755), and 13% higher than the previous yearly total ($213,333).

Rabeler noted that the majority of earnings for the month (38.7%) came from the retail sector, which accounts for nearly half of the district’s total earnings in 2021 ($112,022), and now outpaces collections in the food/accommodations sector ($57,477) by roughly two-to-one. In 2019, retail accounted for about 41%, with food at 33.3%. He also noted that the manufacturing sector has grown significantly in the past year, from less than 2% of revenues, to more than 13% ($32,564).

On the expense side of the ledger, the LID has approved $39,143.36 through January, with two pending requests of $24,000, bringing the two-month total to $64,143.36, or 37% of the 2022 allotment of $170,666.

Funding Requests

NBA Economic Development Director Catherine McHale requested funding for the first half of her 2022 compensation, or $14,000. After a brief discussion about her achievements in 2021, members approved the request unanimously.

Up next was Gene Hayworth, co-owner of Inkberry Books (with LID committee member Keith Waters), requesting $10,000 on behalf of the Niwot Cultural Arts Association to help fund the second annual Niwot Jazz Festival. This year’s event is slated for Saturday, June 25, and will start later in the day than the inaugural event, held Labor Day weekend in 2021.

The $10,000 matches the amount the NCAA requested last year for the event, which had robust attendance but didn’t attract as many sponsorships as anticipated. Overall, the festival’s expenses exceeded the amount raised through fundraising, alcohol sales, and tip jar donations, though Hayworth hopes the new date and time, plus other tweaks, will help boost attendance and revenues. Ultimately, organizers want the festival to be “self-funding,” though that might take a few years, he said.

“We're going to hopefully gain some momentum, and just build on that. We’re starting our fundraising process earlier, and we’re going to change it up a little bit.”

The LID funds will help pay for marketing, promotion and advertising for the event, as well as banners and other signage. The request was approved unanimously, with Waters abstaining.

Old Business

The LID members continued their updates to Niwot’s five-year strategic plan, last adopted in 2016. Discussion included funding priorities, ranging from events, to infrastructure and maintenance. The group hopes to finish the final sections next month, and release the plan in the following weeks.

The next monthly meeting of the LID board is Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at the Niwot Inn.