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OCN > 2406 > Monument Sanitation District, May 15 – Board aims to educate community

Monument Sanitation District, May 15 – Board aims to educate community

By Jackie Burhans and James Howald

In May, the Monument Sanitation District (MSD) board discussed improving communication with district customers. The board also heard an operational report from District Manager Mark Parker and discussed a recent requirement that the district’s website be accessible to disabled customers.

Board brainstorms how to get their message out

Directors John Howe and Janet Ladowski told the board that they met to discuss how to improve the district’s communications with its customers. Howe suggested that, two to four times per year, the board put together a communication to district customers explaining what MSD does, who makes up the operational staff, and who sits on the board. How to contact the district should be included, he said.

Ladowski said the communication should cover anticipated road closures and should educate customers about the district’s infrastructure, explaining the role of lift stations and wastewater treatment. Howe said that one topic to cover would be how MSD, the Town of Palmer Lake, and the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District manage the Tri-Lakes Waste Water Treatment Facility (TLWWTF) on South Mitchell Avenue together using the Joint Use Committee. Howe said customers need to understand that MSD operates independently of the Town of Monument.

District Manager Mark Parker suggested the planned communication would be helpful when tap fees or rates need to be increased.

Operations Specialist James F. Kendrick said the communication could counteract the misinformation about the district that appears in social media sites such as Nextdoor.

Howe said a draft would be ready for review in time to publish in September.

Manager’s report

In his Manager’s Report, Parker said one of the pumps failed at a lift station serving the Wagon Gap and Trails End neighborhoods and had been repaired.

There were no issues with the tenants who rent space in the district’s headquarters building, and office painting and flooring repairs were complete.

Parker said the district would do a study of inflow and infiltration to determine how much rainwater is entering the system. Insurance companies use this information to determine the cost of policies, Parker said, and the study would help keep the district’s insurance costs low.

Parker said the replacement of a sewer line between the Willow Springs Neighborhood and the TLWWTF was underway. The American Recovery Plan Act was paying for $900,000 of the project’s total cost of $1.4 million, he said. The district has 180 days to complete the work, Parker said, adding that he was optimistic that deadline would be met.

Website accessibility

Parker said he was using an online service to verify that the district’s website was compliant with state law that dictates how the site must accommodate disabled customers. He believed the site was already 98% compliant.

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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 June 19. See https://colorado.gov/msd. For a district service map, see https://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.

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