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Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District, Dec. 15 – 2026 budget adopted and rates set

Highlights

  • The Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District held a December public hearing on 2026 rates and concluded the budget hearing from the prior meeting, while also renewing its contract with the Chilcott Ditch Co. and considering supplemental water service for a new Monument Fire District station.
  • During the rate hearing, the district announced increases for water and sewer taps of 10% and 3%, respectively, with base water and sewer charges rising 7% and 5%, while the Renewable Water Infrastructure Fee stays at $40 per month.
  • In the budget discussion, District Manager Jessie Shaffer noted 2026 expected revenue of just over $14 million and expenditures of $19.5 million, needing about $5.4 million from reserves, with total reserves projected at $18.5 million by year-end 2026, and the board approved two resolutions setting 2026 rates and adopting the budget.
  • Monument Fire District requested 2.7 acre-feet per year of supplemental water at $34,500 per acre-foot per year, and the board asked Shaffer to draft an agreement for later approval.
  • The Chilcott Ditch Co. contract was renewed without changes, maintaining WWSD's role in management and ditch rider services as part of the Loop water re-use project.
  • Woodmoor Ranch revegetation, managed by contractor Paul Flack, was nearly complete with 98% of the land restored to native grasses; the remaining 2% could not be revegetated due to high water tables and natural runoff.
  • Flack plans to prepare a formal report to a water judge, and a thank-you note highlighted his strong work and suggested honoring him with a named warehouse at the ranch.
  • Operational updates described ongoing Loop water re-use project work, including a preliminary design for a water treatment facility and anticipated completion of pipeline and pump design in January, with plans to expand the Calhan Reservoir and coordinate access with the Sundance Pipeline.
  • The meeting closed with a short executive session to discuss potential legal agreements with LWA and MFD, after which no action was taken, and the district announced its next meeting for January 12 at 1 p.m. at the district office.

By James Howald

At its December meeting, the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District (WWSD) board held a public hearing on its rates for 2026 and concluded a public hearing on its budget opened at its previous meeting. It discussed a request for supplemental water service from the Monument Fire District (MFD) for a new station it plans to build on the west side of Jackson Creek Parkway and renewed WWSD’s contract with the Chilcott Ditch Co.

Paul Flack, the contractor managing the revegetation project at Woodmoor Ranch, gave the board a final report on the 10-year effort. The board heard operational and financial reports from District Manager Jessie Shaffer, Operations Superintendent Dan LaFontaine, board Treasurer Dana Franzen, and District Engineer Cydney Saelens. The meeting ended with an executive session.

Rate increases and budget approved

At the public hearing on rates, Shaffer told the board that water and sewer tap fees would increase by 10% and 3%, respectively. The base fee and volumetric rates for water service would increase by 7% and the base fee for sewer service would increase by 5%. The Renewable Water Infrastructure Fee would remain unchanged at $40 per month. A complete schedule of fees for 2026 is on the district’s website here: https://tinyurl.com/4hwwt2ts.

There were no comments from the public, and the hearing was closed.

At the continuation of the hearing on the 2026 budget, Shaffer said there were few changes to the draft presented at the November meeting, just some adjustments to when the district would pay retainage fees to contractors. He said he added documentation to the November draft for the board’s information.

Shaffer said the 2026 budget anticipated revenue just above $14 million and expenditures of $19.5 million, requiring about $5.4 million to be spent from reserves. Total reserves of $18.5 million were expected at the end of 2026, Shaffer said.

The budget hearing was closed, and the board voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 25-04, which sets the rates and fees for 2026, and Resolution 25-05, which adopts the budget and appropriates the required funds.

Supplemental water requested by MFD

MFD Division Chief of Support Services Jamey Bumgarner asked the board to consider providing 2.7 acre-feet per year of supplemental water service to a new fire station planned for a site west of Jackson Creek Parkway and north of the Tri-Lakes YMCA. Supplemental water service costs $34,500 per acre-foot per year. Bumgarner said MFD’s request complied with WWSD’s water demand methodology.

Board President Brian Bush directed Shaffer to draft an agreement with MFD for the board to approve at a later meeting.

Contract with Chilcott Ditch Co. renewed

Shaffer asked the board to consider renewing the district’s contract with the Chilcott Ditch Co. The contract, which is renewed every year, obligates WWSD to provide management, administrative, and ditch rider services to the company. WWSD is the largest shareholder in the ditch company, and the Chilcott Ditch, which conveys water from Fountain Creek to shareholders and to the Calhan Reservoir, will be used as part of the Loop water re-use project. Shaffer told the board there were no changes to the previous year’s contract, and the board voted unanimously to approve it.

Woodmoor Ranch revegetation project complete

In his introduction of Flack, Shaffer told the board that the work to revegetate Woodmoor Ranch with native grasses, required by the district’s conversion of the ranch’s water rights from agricultural to municipal uses, was substantially complete and had met the terms and conditions of WWSD’s water decree. The active part is done, Shaffer said, and now the focus would be on stewardship and land management practices around weed management. He thanked Flack for doing a phenomenal job.

Flack gave the board an overview of the report he will write on behalf of the district. The report will be written to sum up the project to a water judge in the unlikely event that the work is ever disputed.

Flack said 98% of the ranch had been successfully revegetated with native grasses and explained why the other 2% could not be revegetated. Some portions could not be revegetated because the water table was too high, making the land too salty to allow grass to grow. Another portion was not suitable for revegetation because it was naturally irrigated by runoff from nearby hills.

In his conclusion, Flack gave Shaffer some tools and notebooks that survived a tornado at the ranch in 2019 as keepsakes. Bush suggested that the warehouse at the ranch be named in Flack’s honor.

Operational reports

In his manager’s report, Shaffer said 2026 would be a busy year for the Loop water re-use project. He said Burns & McDonnell had submitted a preliminary design for the water treatment facility, and the Loop’s board had provided comments that Burns & McDonnell were incorporating into its design. Shaffer said the design of the pipelines and pumps, also assigned to Burns & McDonnell, was expected to be completed in January. The plan to enlarge the Calhan Reservoir is 30% complete, and the Loop board is discussing access to the Sundance Pipeline with its owner, the Cherokee Metropolitan District. “We are wound tight,” Shaffer said.

In response to a question from Director Roy Martinez, LaFontaine explained some of the technical details of the water treatment plant design. He explained that after an initial filtration, the Loop’s water would be filtered again through Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), which can remove so-called “forever chemicals,” pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, and other emergent contaminants. LaFontaine said the use of GAC “future-proofed” the water treatment design. A further stage of treatment would keep the level of Total Dissolved Solids at an acceptable level, LaFontaine said. The treatment plant would initially have two filtration trains providing redundancy and capable of delivering 2 million gallons of treated water daily. The design anticipates the addition of another two filtration trains at buildout, LaFontaine said.

In his financial report, board Treasurer Dana Franzen said revenue from water sales would not reach projected levels for the year, and revenue from tap fees was also less than expected. Expenses were in line with revenues, Franzen said, adding, “Everything looks good.” Shaffer commented that there had been less legal work related to water rights in 2025 than expected. Professional fees related to Woodmoor Ranch were also falling, he said.

District Engineer Cydney Saelens reported that the drilling for Well 12R is complete, and welders were brought in to address structural issues with the south water tank so that recoating can continue. She said that the Northbay development, which is just north of Lake Woodmoor and east of The Cove, is active again and a Planned Unit Review had been submitted for zoning review. The number of homes in the development has been reduced from 28 to six, Saelens said. The Monument Ridge East project had just submitted another round of plans for review by WWSD, addressing just the single-family homes planned for the east edge of the property, Saelens said,

Executive session

The meeting ended with an executive session for the board to receive legal counsel regarding potential agreements with the LWA and the MFD. No action was taken following the executive session.

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The next meeting is on Jan. 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.

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