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Articles from Vol 24 No. 2 - February 3, 2024

Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District, Jan. 8 – Board passes administrative resolutions

By James Howald

At a brief meeting in January, the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District (WWSD) board passed its annual administrative resolution and handled other housekeeping matters. It also heard operational reports.

Administrative resolution passes

The board voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 24-01, the first resolution of the new year, which lays out administrative procedures that will govern the board’s actions in 2024. This administrative resolution is updated annually and covers topics such as the timeline for the budget process, the reports the board must provide to the state of Colorado, and where the board will publish legal notices.

The board also voted to sell worn-out office equipment and drilling material and account for the money from the sales using the miscellaneous category of the budget.

Details of operational reports

  • District Manager Jessie Shaffer updated the board on the El Paso County Regional Loop Water Authority (EPCRLWA or the Loop). See the Loop article on page < 14 >. Shaffer said the Loop board, of which he is president, is working with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) to determine if the Loop can lower its construction costs by using CSU’s Edward Bailey Waste Treatment Facility to process its water instead of building its own treatment plant. He said the Loop board is focusing on the design of financing options that must be voted on by each participating water district. The Loop is also working on an analysis of the easements required by the pipelines that will convey water from Fountain Creek to the Loop’s customers in El Paso County.
  • Operations Superintendent Dan LaFontaine reported on four main breaks that occurred in December, one of which lost an estimated 1 million gallons of water. That leak washed out a road, he said. He emphasized the importance of the district’s project to replace and repair the oldest parts of the district’s distribution system.
  • District Engineer Ariel Hacker told the board that Phase A of El Paso County’s project to widen Hghway 105 is expected to take another two years to complete. Phase A addresses Highway 105 between Jackson Creek Parkway and Lake Woodmoor Drive. Phase B of the project will widen Highway 105 between Lake Woodmoor Drive. and Martingale Road., Hacker said, adding that planning for the easements required by Phase B is underway.

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The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. Meetings are usually held on the second Monday of each month at 1 p.m. at the district office at 1845 Woodmoor Drive; please see www.woodmoorwater.com or call 719-488-2525 to verify meeting times and locations.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.

Other Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District (WWSD) articles

Triview Metropolitan District, Jan. 8 and 25 – Mill levy lowered; 2024 budget approved

By Natalie Barszcz

The Triview Metropolitan District (TMD) board held a special meeting via Zoom on Jan. 8 to certify the district’s mill levy and approve the 2024 budget. At the regular board meeting on Jan. 25, the board received multiple updates on water infrastructure projects and heard about a pause in planning approvals, the lower-than-expected sales tax revenues in 2023, and how street parking was hampering the district’s snow removal efforts.

Mill levy certification

District Manager James McGrady said the district finally received the total property tax revenue assessment for 2024 at the end of December. The district was anticipating about $179 million, but the final amount after the changes made by the state Legislature in November was reduced to just over $172 million for 2024. After reassessing the 2024 budget, the district is still in a position to lower the mill levy by 3.5 mills from the 2023 mill levy of 24 mills. The operating mill levy has been raised to 4.5 mills, but remains under the 7 mills limit, and 16 mills will be set for the debt service. He also informed the board that the 2024 budget had been revised to add $500,000 back into the 2024 budget for the Promontory Pointe overlay project. It had accidentally been omitted in the final proposed budget in December, he said.

Vice President Anthony Sexton asked if the district envisions ever needing to go to 7 mills or above for operational use.

McGrady said he projects the budget five years ahead and does not anticipate the district needing to increase the general operations mill levy to more than 5 mills unless the district loses a major retailer or a substantial downturn in property values occurs. Those losses could cause the district to go to 7 mills, but if the property valuations continue to increase and the district maintains the current retailers, even adding more commercial growth, the mill levy should not ever go to 7 mills.

Sexton said the board had lowered the mill levy consecutively for the past four years.

Director Jason Gross asked what was driving the increase in general operating costs.

McGrady said the biggest drivers increasing the general operating costs are inflationary pressures, wages, materials, gasoline and the increases in road miles and open spaces the district is required to maintain. The Northern Delivery System (NDS) is a separate entity paid for by water and wastewater rates and fees and is not funded by the general operations and debt service mill levy. To “cross pollinate” the two would be a direct violation of TABOR, he said.

The board unanimously approved Resolution 2024-01, accepting the 2024 budget and certifying the mill levy at 20.5 mills for 2024.

Note: The mill levy is needed to cover about $3.5 million in general obligation bonds and interest, and the debt service bonds and interest for 2024. The district’s property tax assessment was about $125 million for 2023. The certificate of tax levies for 2024 can be found at www.triviewmetro.com.

The Jan. 8 meeting adjourned at 4:57 p.m.

Above: The TMD Board of Directors is made up of, from left, Vice President Anthony Sexton, Director Amanda Carlton, President Mark Melville, Treasurer/Secretary James Barnhart, and Director Jason Gross at the Jan. 25 board meeting. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.

District manager’s report

McGrady said the following:

  • The district has hit a pause on the NDS until the pump station construction is complete. The pump station is going well after some conflict between the construction company and the Kiewit engineers. The district has spent about $18.7 million to date on the NDS, and the project is about 82.4% complete. The total budget for the completed project is expected to be about $22.2 million.
  • The 16-inch pipeline that could transport water from the west side of I-25 (known as Segment “C”) has been installed to Old Denver Road. The pipeline will allow Conexus to begin construction. If the Town of Monument (TOM) requires an interconnect to the pipeline, the pipeline will be available for a fee.
  • The Fountain Mutual Irrigation Co. (FMIC) change case is processing through the water court. The district has 557 shares with the FMIC, and two parties remain in opposition to the change case. (The shares will be necessary to operate the NDS).
  • The box culvert installation project on the Excelsior Ditch is complete. The culverts were installed under the Nyberg Road underpass to allow the expansion of flows to the reservoirs from about 25 cubic feet per second to 170 cubic feet per second. The project cost about $340,000, with TMD contributing about 80% of the cost (about $270,000).

Water Attorney Chris Cummins said a couple of other choke points remain in different areas downstream that require box culverts, but they are less urgent and will be less costly to install due to the positioning under narrower, less-trafficked roads.

Water tank planning progressing

McGrady said the six-month moratorium the MTC approved effective Jan. 4 is unlikely to impact the six-month planning process for the 2-million-gallon water tank the district is planning to install at plant “B” (Promontory Pointe). The district scheduled a pre-application meeting with the two remaining town planners on Feb. 1. The $1 million matching water tank grant funding the district received through the American Rescue Plan needs to be spent by mid-2026. The planning process can take up to six months, and the district is expecting to install the tank by July 2026. See www.ocn.me/v24n1.htm#tmd and MTC article on page < 1 >.

Assistant manager’s report

Assistant Manager Steve Sheffield said the following:

  • The district has engaged in multiple meetings with the TOM to discuss the plans and improvements for the Higby Road widening project. The project is dependent on build-out of residential homes, apartments and commercial growth in the northern part of the district.
  • JHL Contractors is redoing the head gate and the diversion at the district’s Arkansas Valley Irrigation Co. ditch site in Buena Vista. The contractors conducted aerial LiDAR mapping over several weeks to provide a solution to the wetland constraints for the Matrix Design engineers.
  • The intrusion alarm on the SCADA system at the South Reservoir pump station on Nyberg Road, Pueblo, had been activated.

Financial update

McGrady said sales tax revenues were less than expected in 2023 and that it was likely due to less new construction and residents “tightening their belts.” However, the district received 92% of the projected water sales in 2023, “not bad” considering the late wet spring in May and June. The warm fall temperatures generated good water usage in September to help pull the numbers up, he said.

In addition, he said the district budgeted for 50 taps in 2023 but had a flurry of activity in the fourth quarter. The income for the taps added about $4.1 million to about $2 million that was received in early 2023 for the Thompson Thrift Apartments on the west side of Jackson Creek Parkway. The district had estimated about $5.3 million in tap fees but netted about $7.9 million in 2023. The district has conservatively budgeted about 50 tap fees for 2024.

District Attorney George Rowley cautioned about the rising crime of backflow preventer theft occurring in the Denver Metro area. He suggested the backflow units be individually noted on the insurance policy to avoid costly replacement should any by stolen.

Sexton said a community his landscaping company services had a backflow preventer stolen the night before.

The board unanimously approved checks over $5,000 and accepted the December financial report.

Parked cars hamper snow removal efforts

Public Works and Parks and Open Space Superintendent Matt Rayno said some streets were difficult to plow due to the number of parked cars on streets. It was particularly prevalent in a couple of the older subdivisions of Jackson Creek and on Panoramic Drive in Sanctuary Pointe.

McGrady said the district website requests residents do not park on the street during snowstorms and the TOM ordinances apply within the district. When heavy snow events occur, the problem of clearing the snow is particularly bad. Visit www.townofmonument.org Snow Plow Information Code of Ordinances: MMC 10.08.010 and MMC 12.04.2020 and MMC 12.04.040.

Rayno said the district’s snow removal team applies liquid brine to the priority roads before each snowstorm. The district aims to provide better service with each storm by revisiting the snow removal areas to see the result. If something is not working and ice dams are building, the problem will be addressed to avoid future issues, he said. The snow removal priority map can be found at www.triviewmetro.com.

Executive session

The board moved into an executive session at about 6:50 p.m., pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes 24-6-402(4)(a), (b), (e), to received legal advice regarding acquisitions and negotiations associated with water acquisitions, strategic planning, and change cases.

Sheffield confirmed that no actions were taken after the board returned to the regular session. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m.

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Meetings are usually held on the third Thursday of every month at the district office located at 16055 Old Forest Point, Suite 302. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. For meeting agendas, minutes, and updates, visit triviewmetro.com.

Natalie Barszcz can be reached at nataliebarszcz@ocn.me.

Other Triview Metropolitan District (TMD) articles

Monument Sanitation District, Jan. 17 – Willow Springs sewer line to be replaced

By Jackie Burhans and James Howald

At its January meeting, General Manager Mark Parker updated the Monument Sanitation District (MSD) board regarding a project to replace a sewer main. The board passed two administrative resolutions and heard operational reports.

Sewer main due for replacement

Parker told the board that he had attended a bid opening regarding the replacement of a sewer main running between the Willow Springs neighborhood and the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility. There were four bids for the project, Parker said, ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million. The four companies submitting bids were all companies he would be glad to work with, Parker said.

Parker said the American Recovery Plan Act was providing most of the funding for the project. View Homes would be responsible for about $350,000, Parker said. MSD’s 2024 budget has $1 million allocated for the project. The final documents for the project would be presented to the board at its next meeting. He expected work on the project to begin on March 2, Parker said.

Administrative resolutions passed

The board voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 01172024-1, which documents administrative details such as the schedule and location of board meetings, how elections will be conducted, and who will serve as general counsel, accountant, and auditor for the district.

The board also approved Resolution 01172024-2, which designates the district’s website as the location where meeting notices will be posted. The district’s website is monumentsd.colorado.gov/.

Manager’s report

In his manager’s report, Parker told the board the pump at the Wakonda Hills lift station had been replaced. A lease for a portion of the MSD headquarters building had been signed with Cara Guirguis, the new owner of The Second Street Salon. MSD had received a grant from the Special District Association of Colorado and had purchased an automated external defibrillator with the money. Parker said he had submitted revised construction standards to GMS Engineering Inc., the district’s consulting engineers, for its review and he was working with Frontier I.T. to add offsite backups to the district’s security procedures.

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Monument Sanitation District meetings are held at 9 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month in the district conference room at 130 Second St., Monument. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21. See colorado.gov/msd. For a district service map, see colorado.gov/pacific/msd/district-map-0. Information: 719-481-4886.

Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me. James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.

Other Monument Sanitation District (MSD) articles

Donala Water and Sanitation District, Jan. 9 and 18 – Budget adopted and mill levies certified

By James Howald and Jackie Burhans

The Donala Water and Sanitation District (DWSD) board held a special meeting on Jan. 9 that included a public hearing on its 2024 budget. After the hearing, it adopted the budget and appropriated the necessary funds, set rates, and certified mill levies. It held a regular board meeting on Jan. 18, during which it passed its annual administrative resolution, set a schedule for board meetings, and heard operational reports.

Budget, rates, and mill levies wrapped up

At the Jan. 9 meeting, board President Wayne Vanderschuere opened a public hearing on the proposed 2024 budget, which had been discussed by the board at previous meetings. Information in the board packet noted that, due to actions taken by the state Legislature following the failure of Proposition HH, the district’s property tax revenue had increased by $416,080 and the budget had been adjusted accordingly. There were no comments from the public, and Vanderschuere closed the hearing.

Following the hearing, the board passed, with a unanimous vote, Resolution 2024-1, which adopted the budget, estimated expenditures for 2024 to be $23 million and estimated total revenues to be $33 million. Accounts Payable Specialist Christina Hawker explained that total revenues include the district’s savings and reserves. The board also voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 2024-2, which appropriated the same required funds.

Next, the board passed Resolution 2023-9, which sets new rates for 2024. The changes to rates were reported in the February issue of Our Community News here: ocn.me/v24n1.htm#dwsd.

Finally, the board certified its mill levies for 2024. Resolution 2024-3 set a mill levy of 21.296 mills for all the district’s service area except the Chaparral Hills neighborhood. Resolution 2024-4 set a mill levy of 10.648 mills for Chaparral Hills. Homes in Chaparral Hills use septic systems, do not connect to the district’s wastewater system and therefore pay a lower rate.

Administrative resolutions

At its Jan. 18 meeting, the board passed Resolution 2024-5, which establishes rules by which the board will operate, such as the timelines for budget approval and other required financial reporting and where legal and meeting notices will be published. This resolution must be updated annually.

The board also set the location, dates, and times for its 2024 board meetings. That schedule is published on the district’s webpage here: www.donalawater.org/images/docs/2023_Meeting_Schedule.pdf.

Highlights of financial, operational reports

  • In his manager’s report, General Manager Jeff Hodge told the board that the district came in under budget for the previous year.
  • Hodge said Classic Homes had proposed a residential development, consisting of 49 homes, adjacent to the Big R store and just east of I-25. To avoid paying a tap fee for each house built, Classic Homes had asked for all the homes to use a single water tap and meter. Typically, each residence has its own water and sewer tap, and the builder pays a fee for those taps when a house is built.
  • Water Operator Ronny Wright told the board that the study of hydrous manganese oxide to reduce radium levels in the district’s water was complete and he would submit it to the state after some fine tuning. After state approval, the district would begin using a process to remediate radium using hydrous manganese oxide technology, and all radium compliance issues should be resolved by the second quarter of 2025.

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The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m. Generally, board meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at 1:30 p.m. and include online access; call (719) 488-3603 or access www.donalawater.org to receive up-to-date meeting information. The district office is located at 15850 Holbein Drive, Colorado Springs.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me. Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me.

Other Donala Water and Sanitation District (DWSD) articles

El Paso County Regional Loop Water Authority, Jan. 18 – Consultants address financing, CSU facilities, easements

By James Howald

At its January meeting, the El Paso County Regional Loop Water Authority (EPCRLWA, or the Loop) board heard progress reports from two consultants. The board also held an executive session.

Consultants address financing, easements

John Kuosman updated the board on his discussions with engineering companies and Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU).

Kuosman, a water practice leader with Merrick and Co. who also serves as the Loop Water Authority’s project planning and workflow manager, said he had received feedback from several engineering companies on projects they had worked on that were relevant to the Loop’s water reuse design. He used that feedback to determine the cost drivers that the Loop should build into its financial analysis. These cost drivers were used by Piper Sandler, the Loop’s underwriter, to develop financing scenarios that will be voted on by the authority’s participating water districts.

Kuosman said the Town of Monument is driving the Loop’s work to develop a financial model for the project, because the town needs to make a final decision whether it will remain a participant in the Loop or become a participant in the Northern Delivery System, a water reuse project that is managed by the Triview Metropolitan District. Kuosman said he had scheduled a presentation to the town at its executive session on Jan. 30.

Kuosman also reported to the board on his discussions with CSU. The Loop initially assumed that it would be responsible for construction of all infrastructure required to process and convey water to its customers, but as the project moved forward CSU became open to the possibility of the Loop using CSU’s Edward Bailey Water Treatment Plant (EBWTP), which has unused capacity. Using EBWTP would save the Loop the cost of building its own treatment facility. The potential use of EBWTP by the Loop to process water from the Chilcott Ditch raises the issue of treatment upgrades that might be required at EBWTP, Kuosman said, adding that CSU is funding a study to make this determination. Kuosman said he would review the water quality data the authority has collected and facilitate a meeting with CSU.

Rebecca Hutchinson, also with Merrick and Co., told the board she was investigating the easements that would be required to convey the water treated at the EBWTP, which is located at 977 Marksheffel Rd., to the east of Colorado Springs, to the Loop’s customers in northern El Paso County. Hutchinson said she is working with two companies that specialize in easement investigations: Kimley Horn and Western States Land Services LLC.

Executive session

The meeting ended with an executive session to receive information from consultants regarding water sources. The executive session was attended by board members from the participating water districts.

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The next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15 at 9 a.m. Regular meetings are usually held on the third Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Monument Town Hall at 645 Beacon Lite Road. Workshop meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Cherokee Metropolitan District offices at 6250 Palmer Park Blvd., Colorado Springs. Please see loopwater.org or call 719-488-3603 to verify meeting times and locations.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.

Other El Paso County Regional Loop Water Authority (EPCRLWA, or the Loop) articles