Monument Sanitation District, Feb. 21 – Federal dollars help fund sewer line replacement

ARPA provides $900,000 of $1.4 million needed for sewer line replacement
Manager’s report

By Jackie Burhans and James Howald

At its February meeting, the Monument Sanitation District (MSD) board approved a notice of award for replacing a sewer line, funded primarily by the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA). The board also heard an operational report from District Manager Mark Parker.

ARPA provides $900,000 of $1.4 million needed for sewer line replacement

Parker asked the board to approve a notice of award to Pate Construction Co. for $1.4 million to replace a sewer line running east from the Willow Springs neighborhood to the Tri-Lakes Waste Water Treatment Facility (TLWWTF). Parker said Pate Construction’s bid was the lowest responsible bid of four bids presented to the district.

Parker said the existing line is made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and was poorly installed. The line has low points, called “bellies,” where grit accumulates and blocks the line, requiring annual cleanings. When the line is replaced, it will be upgraded from 8-inch pipe to 12-inch pipe and will be moved 30 feet to the north within the easement belonging to Willow Springs. ARPA was funding $900,000 of the $1.4 million required to replace the line and the additional funds are earmarked in the district budget, Parker said. The district had offered to partner with View Homes, which plans to build houses adjacent to the line, but that effort was stymied by the Town of Monument’s moratorium on new construction, Parker said.

The board voted unanimously to approve the notice of award, which authorizes Parker to sign the agreement with Pate Construction.

Manager’s report

In his manager’s report, Parker told the board that residents in the Wakonda Hills neighborhood were continuing to see their septic systems fail, requiring them to connect to the district’s wastewater collection system. As many as 24 residences need to make this transition, Parker said. Connecting to the district’s infrastructure requires the homeowner to build a service line to the district’s pipeline, which can cost as much as $25,000. Some of the residents paid the required sewer tap fee ahead of time when the tap fee was between $1,200 and $2,000, less than it is presently. Those who waited to pay their tap fee must pay the current $8,000 fee.

Parker told the board that the process controller electronics at the Wakonda Hills lift station had been replaced. The process controller had lost its configuration and had gone back to its default settings, Parker said, causing the lift station to stop working. A power surge may have been the cause of the failure, he said. Parker also mentioned that the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) hardware in the headquarters building was being upgraded to match the equipment in use at the TLWWTF. Due to its age, replacement parts were not available.

Parker said the ducts had been cleaned at the district headquarters building for the first time in six years and he was working on getting the carpet replaced for an expected cost of $5,500.

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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 March 20. 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.

ARPA provides $900,000 of $1.4 million needed for sewer line replacement

Manager’s report

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