Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Election mandate for Will Karspeck, the town’s new mayor elect

April 04, 2018 | Local News

Special to the Surveyor

A large turnout gave candidate Will Karspeck an overwhelming mandate in the Tuesday, April 3, election, winning by 69 percent over candidate Jeff Hindman. There are currently 5,277 registered voters within the town limits and 2,174 voted, for a vote total of 41 percent. There are 35 more potential ballots to be counted that require signature verification. The 35 will not change the outcome of the election.

Pete Tomassi, Maureen Dower and Tim Hardy were elected as trustees. When the new board is sworn in they will have the option of appointing a trustee or calling for another election to fill the seat vacated by Karspeck. In the past the trustees have selected the next highest vote-getter, which in this case would be Kevin Pischke.

Voters also approved both ballot questions. The first asked voters to approve the sale of retail marijuana by municipally-licensed medical dispensaries in the town. The vote was 60 percent in favor.

The second asked for authorization to annex approximately 30 acres west of the Heron Lakes golf course. The vote was 66 percent in favor on this question.

The second question appeared on the ballot because of the annexation of the Haworth property that was originally annexed into Berthoud by trustees in October 2013, but was ultimately overturned by referendum in April 2014 because opposition had issues with the proposed density and with the property being annexed into town. Initiative 242 asked that any future annexation outside the 2012 Berthoud Growth Management Area (County Road 19 on the west side of Berthoud) had to be referred to the voters. The property on the ballot is west of County Road 19, hence was on the ballot for approval.

This was not an annexation; the approval vote authorizes the town to consider annexing the acreage if they choose to do so and if the developer brings the annexation request to the town.

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