Donala Water and Sanitation District, May 5 – Directors sworn in; district offices temporarily closed

• Judd returns to board; officers remain unchanged
• Offices closed while drilling underway
• Sanitation rate calculation reconsidered
• Operational reports
• Executive session

By James Howald and Jackie Burhans

The Donala Water and Sanitation District (DWSD) board met in May at the Fairfield Inn to swear in directors and appoint officers of the board. The meeting was relocated due to the temporary closure of the district’s offices. The board considered changes to the method used to calculate sanitation charges. The board heard operational reports and ended the meeting with an executive session.

Judd returns to board; officers remain unchanged

Wayne Vanderschuere and Kenneth Judd took their oaths of office at the May meeting. Vanderschuere is able to serve another term on the board due to the recent removal of term limits for DWSD board members by the district’s voters. Judd has previously served as a DWSD director and is returning after a four-year absence from the board.

The board voted to keep its slate of officers in place: Vanderschuere was elected to another term as president, and Bill George and Kevin Deardorff will continue as vice president and secretary.

Offices closed while drilling underway

Due to the well 7D redrilling project in the parking lot of the district offices on Holbein Drive, the district offices are temporarily closed for safety reasons. The parking lot is closed and there will be no public access to the district offices until the project is complete in about five to six weeks. The drop box for payments has moved to the secondary driveway west of the office building, accessible from Holbein Drive, and customers can call 719-488-3603 to contact district staff with questions or to make payments by phone. A second payment drop box is available at the King Soopers on Baptist Road.

Check the DWSD website at www.donalawater.org for updates about the office closure and the location of board meetings.

Sanitation rate calculation reconsidered

The board discussed changes to the method it uses to calculate sanitation charges to address two problem cases: where a water leak is present during the charge calculation period, resulting in too high a charge, and when “snowbirds”—customers who spend the winter months outside the district—have no water usage during the calculation period, resulting in too low a charge. Sanitation charges are calculated based on water usage during the winter months and assume that every gallon of water delivered during those months will result in a gallon of wastewater produced because customers will not be using any water for outdoor irrigation during the winter months.

Accounts Payable Specialist Christina Hawker proposed that the district add a sanitation charge adjustment request form that customers could use to ask for a review when a water leak occurs during the months when the usage is calculated. If a water leak was proven, the district should calculate the charge using a different but comparable month, Hawker said. For snowbirds, Hawker suggested the use of a minimum rate that would be calculated annually by averaging the water usage of the first quartile of all customers. Hawker estimated about 400, or about 15%, of the district’s customers would be affected by the changes. She said she would draft the policy changes for the board to consider at its July meeting and pointed out if the policy changes were approved, the district would have to announce them 30 days before they took effect.

Operational reports

In his financial report, General Manager Jeff Hodge noted the district had received half of the revenue it expects from property taxes. Expenses will increase as projects proceed. The board approved Hodge’s report.

In his manager’s report, Hodge summed up recent developments in the Loop, a water reuse project in which DWSD is one of three participating districts. He said a “request for proposal” to design the pipelines and pump stations needed to convey water from Fountain Creek to customers had been published. A kickoff meeting with Burns & McDonnell, the company that will design and pilot test the water treatment facility for the Loop, had been held.

Ways to finance the Loop were being investigated, Hodge said, adding the Loop’s board was discussing options with Piper Sandler, the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, Tallgrass Water, Holman Capital, and Meridiam. Public-private partnerships were being considered as well as traditional funding methods.

Superintendent of Water Operations Ronny Wright told the board that conditions were very dry at Willow Creek Ranch, one of the district’s sources of renewable surface water. Wright said new pumps that would allow the automatic dispensing of chemicals based on water flows were being discussed for the Holbein Water Treatment Facility.

Waste Plant Operator Aaron Tolman noted the equipment for ultraviolet disinfection had been replaced and the wastewater treatment plant’s 35-year-old generator had undergone repairs and was being tested more frequently than it had been previously.

Executive session

The meeting ended with an executive session to give Hodge his annual review.

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The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 19 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 articles

• Donala Water and Sanitation District, April 17 – Workshop covers finances, water supply (5/3/2025)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Mar. 27 – New water and sewer rates take effect (4/5/2025)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Feb. 20 – Voters remove term limits (3/1/2025)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Jan. 16 – Board passes housekeeping resolution (2/1/2025)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Nov. 21 – State signs off on radium remediation (1/4/2025)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Nov. 21 – Board hears rate and groundwater supply studies (12/5/2024)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Oct. 10 – Board receives preliminary 2025 budget, considers rate increase (11/2/2024)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Sept. 19- -Board continues term limit debate (10/5/2024)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, Aug. 15 – Board debates waiving term limits (9/7/2024)
• Donala Water and Sanitation District, July 18 – Board considers request to exclude property (8/3/2024)