Triview Metropolitan District, April 25 – Water and wastewater fees/rates discussed; water rights lease agreement approved

Water and wastewater fees/rates
Water rights lease
Excess district wastewater
Under drain maintenance
Road traffic safety concerns
Spring road repairs planned
Landscaping workforce divides
Website accessibility
Executive session

By Natalie Barszcz

At the Triview Metropolitan District meeting on April 25, the board heard about a proposal to increase the water and wastewater fees effective June 1 and reviewed a water rights lease agreement between the district and the Arkansas Groundwater and Reservoir Association (AGRA). The board discussed steps to resolve the unsold excess wastewater flows and heard about traffic concerns and hazards from residents. The board held an executive session to discuss the acquisition of water and land.

Director Amanda Carlton was excused.

Treasurer/Secretary James Barnhardt and Director Jason Gross joined via Zoom.

Water and wastewater fees/rates

District Manager Jim McGrady said a public hearing will be held at the May 23 board meeting to allow public comment on the proposed increases to the water and wastewater base rates, meter, and tiered volume charges and the average November-February volume uniform rate, and said:

Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) will begin billing the district $8.32 per 1,000 gallons for the convey, treat, and delivery of the district’s water via the Northern Delivery System (NDS) beginning in July.
The CSU rates are based on a detailed cost of service and a certain percentage increase for being outside the Colorado Springs city limits.
There is nothing like running water through the system to know the true costs of operating the NDS, but the district needs to ensure there are sufficient funds to cover the projected capital expenditures of the district, staff wages, operating expenditures, and making the debt service payments.
The district expects the electricity and chemical treatment costs for well pumped water will drop, because the water will already have been treated.
Repairs to wells will be curtailed, as annual costs of anywhere between $200,000 and $500,000 for well repairs lessen. When the NDS is online, the district will not be under the gun to make immediate repairs.
The district will need to juggle the fine line of delivering water through the NDS and rotating the wells and a schedule to run them on a rotational basis.
Through educated calculations and rate comparison to other communities, other than CSU, the rates are equal to or less than those reviewed.

Vice Chair Anthony Sexton said the district’s rates in comparison to other neighboring districts are mid- to top tier, but it is hard to compare when the district has had an aggressive push to move away from groundwater, and other districts have not made that investment.

Water rights lease

McGrady said the district has been leasing water to AGRA on a regular basis; the water is an excess of water decreed for agricultural use. Next year the water rights may be decreed for use in the NDS, and the district will revisit the lease in 2025. He requested the board consider approving the lease for $50 per share, generating a rental payment of about $67,000 per year combined with the lease of about 800-acre feet storage in the South Reservoir at a rate of $40 per acre-foot, generating revenue of about $100,000 for a year.

The board approved the one-year water rights lease agreement between TMD and AGRA in a 4-0 vote.

Excess district wastewater

McGrady said the district staff are looking closely at the influent numbers now that the results of the wastewater study are known. The district will look at how to close the gap between water pumped and wastewater treated, but it is not out of the question that the influent meters are reading low, and it could be due to turbulence with the 6-inch flume. The 6-inch flume may need to be removed, and the 9-inch flume will remain in use. Installing the new doppler technology and electromagnetic flow meters would be more accurate, or the district will have to learn to live with the 5% differential between sold water and treated wastewater. Flows were dramatically higher after the June and July rainfalls that produced 6-7 inches in 2023.

Utilities Department Superintendent Shawn Sexton said a meeting is scheduled between the executive and utility staff to discuss the findings of the study.

Under drain maintenance

Gross said several of his neighbors have installed sump pumps after experiencing flooded basements. Those sump pumps are tied to underdrains that are not being maintained. One neighbor’s sump pump drains to a low spot on the trail behind his property, and he requested the crews that had been investigating to continue to keep an eye on the wet area. The area is a long-wet spot at the end of the trail where it connects to Lyons Tail Road. He asked if the underdrains should be added to the maintenance schedule.

Assistant Manager Steve Sheffield said the Vactor truck crews would be back out to inspect the area.

Sexton confirmed the drainage on his property in Promontory Pointe connects to the district’s sewer system and he does not have a sump pump.

McGrady said the underdrain beneath the sewer is blocked, and the Vactor truck crews are working to break debris free, but the engineers may need to dig down farther. The underdrains throughout the district are installed to protect the utilities, but the crew is focusing on cleaning out the manholes. There are some underdrain issues within the district, but they are not significant. Unsold water from sump pumps may be draining into the main sewer, and that could be part of the increase in wastewater treatment flows, he said.

Road traffic safety concerns

Gross requested direction and legal advice to personally address the delay to the planned Higby Road improvements. He said he would like to see action to enhance road safety for Lewis-Palmer High School students.

President Mark Melville said the discussion could continue in executive session to avoid changing the consent agenda. See Monument Town Council article on page 16.

This reporter cited safety concerns and the traffic speeds on Agate Creek Drive, as many motorists gather speed beyond the posted 25 miles per hour heading south to the T-intersection at Old Creek Drive. Many impatient motorists are unwilling to slow down when residents are backing out of driveways, prompting some to weave around the resident to the opposite side of the road, and negotiate parked cars to continue on. The speeding problem is prevalent and could result in a crosswalk accident where the busy trail connection crosses the southern portion of the road.

McGrady said speed control is a Monument Police Department responsibility, but installing a raised speed bump would help slow traffic, however it could cause an issue for a snowplow. A discussion with the traffic engineer could resolve the issue, said McGrady.

Note: After the meeting, this reporter noticed the crosswalk sign partially covered by tree branches and the speed sign missing for southbound traffic.

Spring road repairs planned

Promontory Pointe Homeowners’ Association President Ann-Marie Jojola requested the district take another look at gaps that are widening in Promontory Pointe. One resident with special needs had his bike wheel stuck in a large crack, and several other residents have stumbled in the gutters on Ann Arbor Way and Trans Continental Drive.

McGrady said there would be a fair amount of crack repairs during the overlay project. Both streets are on the list for the repairs this year and the district digs out the cracks and compacts them before the milling and overlay project begins. The high stormwater inlets along with the streets in Promontory Pointe will be inspected before the road project begins. Martin Marietta was awarded the mill and overlay contract for $717,219. The district also received a competitive bid just slightly higher from Schmidt Construction, said McGrady.

Landscaping workforce divides

Public Works and Parks and Open Space Superintendent Matt Rayno said the landscaping crews were only able to keep up with mowing services in 2023, so this year the workforce is divided into three-man crews allocated to separate areas of the district. The schedule will be more efficient and work will occur on a weekly basis, with the same level of detail the residents have come to enjoy in the landscaped areas. The crews will come together bi-weekly to service Forest Lakes Metropolitan District. Mowing will occur on Wednesday and Thursday, lowering the run-time hours on the mowing equipment from 23 hours to 16 per week this year. The district has a dedicated employee who maintains the native grass and pet waste receptacles. The native grass areas will be mown three times throughout the summer, and those areas receive limited irrigation. Minimal repairs were needed to the irrigation system, and the district is 100% staffed for the summer season landscaping services.

Website accessibility

General counsel Scott Goodstein of White Bear Ankele Tanaka and Waldron law firm said the legislation requiring full accessibility requirements to documents via the district website by June 31 this year had been delayed for another year.

McGrady said that most of the hundreds of state sites are not ready to be accessibility compliant. The district may need to hire a firm to look at site accessibility, but not before the district has reviewed the site with a critical eye.

Executive session

The board moved into executive session at 7:45 p.m. pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes 24-6-402(4)(a), (b), (e), to discuss the acquisition of water and land, receive confidential legal advice relating to potential consolidation, and for the purpose of determining positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategies for negotiations, and instructing negotiators as it relates to potential development incentives.

Sheffield confirmed that after the board returned to the regular meeting, no action was taken, and the meeting promptly adjourned at 9:12 p.m.

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Meetings are usually held on the third Thursday of the month at the district office located at 16055 Old Forest Point, Suite 302. A public hearing will be held at the next regular board meeting scheduled for May 23 at 5:30 p.m. For meeting agendas, minutes, and updates, visit https://triviewmetro.com.

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