LID approves 5 funding requests and resolution requesting a minimum wage moratorium

Members of the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) met on April 1 at the Niwot Inn and unanimously approved five funding requests. The committee also unanimously approved a LID resolution urging the Boulder County Commissioners to implement a moratorium on the remaining unincorporated county wage increases.

Among other business matters, the LID discussed the status of the Niwot Master Plan, the vice chair vacancy, a possible policy to extend the time to make decisions about funding requests, and the county's progress on the feasibility of the desired Highway 119 underpass tunnel that would end at Whistle Stop Park.

LID Chair Scott Firle welcomed new member Mike Keffeler, the committee's representative from the Niwot Community Association who replaced Jeff Knight, who moved out of state. All members were present except for Heidi Storz.

Keffeler, who grew up in Niwot, said he is really excited about the opportunity. "I don't take the responsibility lightly and I appreciate all the work that everyone's done before me and is doing and just looking to contribute."

Treasurer's Report

LID Treasurer Mary Coonce reported the sales tax revenue of $13,511.000 collected through January 2025 is down by 25.4% ($4,597.00) compared to the same period in 2024. According to Coonce's report, all business categories had a decrease for January, except for the information sector that had a 20% increase.

"So it's real important to keep our budget in check," said Coonce while discussing likely downward trends for the first quarter of 2025 and what businesses have anecdotally reported to her.

"Now it is early, so, you know, consider that last year we ended up 9% down from 2023 and I think January we were down about 13%. So hopefully it will improve," said Coonce.

Coonce pointed out that the state collects local tax revenue, then sends it to the county. When submitting their tax forms to the state, Coonce said businesses choose their category, and the LID has no way of knowing who the companies are as the Colorado Department of Revenue protects their anonymity.

Mark Ruzzin, the Boulder County staff LID liaison, said based on questions from the March LID meeting, he has asked the county's budget analyst what the definitions are for all the business sectors. Ruzzin further commented, "Rest assured, the county staff is sharing all the data they can share within the law."

Coonce provided a brighter outlook on budget spending and said, "If we approve all these funding requests tonight, and we stick to the budgeted amounts of what we spent before, we're still going to be a little under budget this year."

According to Coonce's report, the LID has a 2025 budget of $218,998.00 with a confirmed reserve amount at $439,149.00 for sales tax revenue collected through 2023. Additional eserve amounts from 2024 are still pending confirmation from the county.

Niwot entry fence improvement

Vicky Dorvee on behalf of the Niwot Community Association (NCA) presented a funding request with the Niwot Business Association (NBA) for improvements to two privately owned fences that are along the north side of Niwot Road and east of the Diagonal Highway.

According to the request application, the project "will add some luster and vitality to the main entrance to Niwot," by giving the fences "a consistent and fresh appearance." The project also expands upon the rock mulch landscaping for the entrance area that the LID provided funding for last year.

The contractor estimate to remove old fence, replace pickets, and apply new stain to both fences is $3,400.00 or $1,700.00 per fence.

Dorvee said the NCA and NBA have agreed to cover the upgrades to the fence owned by Vern Vinson. Because the second fence adjacent to property owned by Linda Rae is in the county right-of-way, the organizations requested LID funding solely for the Rae fence.

During discussions on the funding request, Coonce inquired if the organizations could get something out of paying for the fence improvements, such as getting permission from the owners to do a mural or a Niwot entry sign.

After more discussion on Coonce's ideas, the LID approved the $1,700.00 request but urged Dorvee to seek permission from the owners for a possible mural or Niwot entry sign. During discussions, Dorvee said it would make the most sense to approach Vinson with the request, as his fence is the first one when entering Niwot.

Beautification materials

Angela Hudgins, Niwot Administrative Coordinator, requested annual beautification funding to plant and display flowers in pots and containers along the right-of-way in the Second Avenue and Cottonwood Square business districts on behalf of the NBA. The proposal includes 60 hanging baskets and 72 ground level potted flowers. According to Hudgins, the request also includes the acquisition of several self watering planters to save money on watering and some replacements for cracked and broken pots.

The LID approved the $6,915.23 request, with the NBA contributing $500 to the project, for a total project cost of $7,415.23.

Hudgins said $9,600.00 was the cost just for flowers in previous years and this year, the NBA obtained more bids with volunteer help from the Garden Club.

Hudgins said a couple of members from the Garden Club are really passionate about the project. "One of them actually has gone around town and taken photos of every single pot that we had, which is amazing." Hudgins said the member also has all kinds of ideas, such as grouping to make a bigger splash with the same number of pots. "And so together we have created a spreadsheet as well. And so every pot is numbered now. We have a photo that's clickable, that goes with each one. We have a map. So it's really organized."

When asked about recognition for the volunteers who do dead-heading, Hudgins said they are considering metal signs with a number on them and doing a shout out in the newsletter.

Flower Maintenance

Hudgins also presented the NBA's second funding request for 18 weeks of labor costs to water and maintain the flower containers to be placed throughout the business districts.

The LID approved the $13,200.00 request.

Hudgins said there will be a savings of $2,000.00 or more with volunteer support from the Garden Club doing dead-heading, fertilizing, and watering the foliage in the Niwot parking lot.

The committee members in discussion confirmed the funding request is based on an hourly rate, not by plant container, and is an approximation. Coonce said watering is a variable cost as it depends on whether Niwot gets a lot of rain, which reduces watering.

Dancing Under the Stars

Catherine McHale presented her request for funding on behalf of the NBA for Dancing Under the Stars, the free community dance series that takes place on Friday nights throughout the summer in Cottonwood Square. McHale said the series draws people from all over the region with many people visiting local restaurants either before, during, or after each event.

The application states that Dancing Under the Stars has had its home in Niwot since 2019 and was previously held in Boulder for many years. McHale said the dancing includes the popular styles of salsa and swing, with additional evenings devoted to country, folk, and possibly disco for 2025.

"I really feel like we're settling into our stride with this," she said. "We get consistently great crowds, 150 to 200 people. There's kids, there's teenagers, there's people of all ages. So I really like that aspect."

McHale said last year they bought new portable dance flooring at a bargain and laid it over the top of the existing floor. "I'm not sure why we didn't think of this before, but it made a wonderful extra cushy surface," she said. "And that's one of the things that people consistently say is they like to come and dance here because they can dance on a surface. It's not the same as having a sprung wooden dance floor, but it's a dance site better than being on concrete."

With the extra flooring, McHale said she needed to recruit an extra teenager, so the floor laying costs went up.  "These young guys and girls really help this event work," she said. "This is a heavy job that needs to be done at the height of the sun at 5:00 p.m. and then again at the end at 9:30."

McHale also expressed appreciation to the Niwot Market for allowing them to park their cart of the rolled up dance flooring in the back of the business.

The LID approved McHale's request for $8,057.00. The application states the series will run for 14 weeks with a total cost of $14,557.00 with sponsors contributing $5,000 and theNBA contributing $1,500, similar to past years. The total event funding for 2024 was $14,210.00.

Road Signage and Equipment

NCA President David Limbach requested funding for 32 bright orange traffic cones and 16 double-sided, A-framed, bright yellow ground-level "no parking" signs.

According to Limbach's funding request, community groups will use the items as part of road signage that enables road closures and routing for events.

Limbach told the LID, "I requested additional signage three years ago for expanding events. And I'm coming to you again because our events are getting even bigger, specifically the Honeybee Harvest Festival and the 4th of July parade."

The LID approved the funding request of $738.00, which includes the shipment of the items.

" You might ask, why doesn't the NCA just absorb this cost? And the answer is, we could. We absolutely could. But this is what I consider to be a community asset and it is available for anybody to use," said Limbach.

Limbach's application lists usage of the road signage by the NCA, NBA, NCAA, and by Michael Tomich for the House Blend Band concerts. "We consider ourselves the librarians," said Limbach.

New and Old Business

Firle reported the consultants for the Master Plan, David Lee and Chad Fletemeyer of Fletemeyer & Lee Associates, confirmed a final version is forthcoming and said they are double checking the plan's changes and the final inputs from the community meetings.

LID members discussed Heidi Storz as a candidate for vice chair to replace Eric Bergeson, whose LID term expired. Firle said he would reach out to Storz and see if she would be interested. Ruzzin confirmed during discussion the LID typically elects officers in May.

Coonce then raised the issue whether the LID should have more time to decide on one-time funding requests, particularly those for infrastructure or to implement the Master Plan.

The committee discussed revising the funding application form and agreed to clarify that approval is not guaranteed and the LID may require more information before making a decision. Ruzzin said since the LID is giving direction on the spending of county tax dollars, the form will include a link to the county's purchasing guidelines and bid requirements.

With the recent announcement of the Sundance Film Festival coming to Boulder in 2027, Sarah Cioni raised the urgency that Niwot should determine how the community can take advantage of the festival. Firle commented that Sundance will definitely be regional, and the organization is "really going big into Colorado year round, not just the eleven days."

Cornelia Sawle said Liberty Puzzles is requesting a title for the puzzle the company is making for the artwork created in celebration of Niwot's sesquicentennial. Firle suggested the LID should refrain from involvement, saying, "It's not really our thing."

Turning to old business, Firle said he, Storz, and Sawle had a good conversation with Stacey Proctor, the Transportation Strategic Planning & Projects Manager for Boulder County regarding moving forward with a feasibility study for the Highway 119 underpass to Niwot with the tunnel coming out at Whistle Stop Park.

Firle said apparently there is a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) report from 2020 that would determine whether it is feasible to reduce the cost to $36,000 instead of $100,000.

As an update, Ruzzin said the county administrator has approved to move the project forward and the project cost is $37,800.00. Ruzzin said the project will include a preliminary design, conceptual alignment, the existing LiDAR data, and some project management and meeting costs. "So it could be done by late June or July," said Ruzzin about the design. Regarding the conversation with Proctor, Firle said he felt they were heard, although "we missed this window, but they're not giving up."

The LID concluded the meeting by voting on the proposed resolution drafted by Storz that opposes additional minimum wage increases as set forth in Ordinance 2023-4 passed by the Boulder County Commissioners in 2023. The committee members voted unanimously in approving the resolution. Firle said he will send the resolution by email to the commissioners with a copy to the LID members.