Contents:

the PDF file. This is a 18 Mbyte file and will take about 104 minutes to download at 28.8. To view and print the file, you will need to download and install the free Acrobat Reader Program.

‘Tis the Season!

Below: Lewis Palmer SERTEEN volunteer bellringers (L to R) Angie Sicola and Kimmy Hilton. Monument Hill SERTOMA and Lewis Palmer SERTEENS 2007 Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringing has begun at Monument Safeway, King Soopers, and Wal*Mart. Last year, donations to the Red Kettles from the Tri-Lakes community were $35,553, approximately ten percent of total Red Kettle donations made in the entire Pikes Peak region. The Salvation Army receives 100 percent of the Red Kettle donations collected by the SERTOMA and SERTEEN volunteers. 100 percent of the funds collected from the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign are used to help those in need in the Pikes Peak region. Photo by Mike Wicklund.

Authority feeling pressure to find renewable water supply

At its monthly meeting on Nov. 15, the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority (PPRWA) discussed the INVenergy project and plans to brief Colorado legislators Nov. 30.

The current members of the water authority are:

The Academy district announced that due to the increase in the annual membership fee to $25,000, they will not renew their membership for 2008.

The authority member representatives unanimously voted to accept membership of the City of Fountain.

Phil Steininger, manager of the Woodmoor district and president of the authority, presided at the meeting.

Background: At its Oct. 16 meeting, the authority approved a non-binding cooperation term sheet with INVenergy for use of water from their planned well field on land in Douglas County owned by Spruce Mountain Ranch & Cattle. The well field would be located about 5 miles north of County Line Road.

The adjudicated water rights amount to 1,139 acre-feet (372 million gallons) per year from the Denver aquifer, 1,081 acre-feet (353 million gallons) per year from the Arapahoe aquifer, and 386 acre-feet (126 million gallons) per year from the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer. The total is approximately 2,600 acre-feet (850 million gallons) per year. The water from the well field would be delivered to the PPRWA in the vicinity of Palmer Lake.

After using the water, the PPRWA would guarantee to deliver an equal amount of water to the point on Fountain Creek where the water would be diverted for use in the combined-cycle power plant to be operated by Squirrel Creek Energy (SCE), a wholly owned subsidiary of INVenergy.

According to the term sheet, SCE would pay PPRWA $155,000 for developing an operating agreement and would pay the operating and maintenance expenses associated with the system. The PPRWA would make the needed upgrades to the member districts’ infrastructure and sell SCE reuse water from other sources at cost.

According to the term sheet, the operating agreement is to be finalized by March 31, 2008, with delivery of water by January 31, 2009.

The Nov. 15 meeting: Gary Barber, manager of the authority, presented a computer model of the proposed path for the water from Spruce Mountain Ranch to the Palmer Lake water treatment plant on Monument Creek and then south to the proposed site of the power plant.

Barber said INVenergy plans to make a presentation to the El Paso Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Nov. 26 and close on the property Dec. 7.

Rick Fendel, attorney for the authority, noted that in its presentation to the BOCC, INVenergy will likely not include the PPRWA’s role in the project. The authority members asked Steininger to send a letter to the BOCC expressing the authority’s support for the project.

Update: Project’s future has changed: At the BOCC meeting Nov. 26, the item was postponed indefinitely. At the Triview meeting on Nov. 27, it was announced that the project has been canceled. For details, see the Triview article on page 12.

Daniel Neimela of Bishop-Brogden Associates reported that the PPRWA’s study of Tri-Lakes area water infrastructure and what improvements are needed is nearly complete. He said a draft of the report would be available by the end of the year, with the final report to be completed a few weeks later.

Barber and Dick Brown, lobbyist for the authority, presented a briefing they plan to give to Colorado legislators at a meeting at Monument Town Hall on Nov. 30. The purpose of the briefing is to solicit the legislators’ support for legislation helpful in solving PPRWA member districts’ water supply issues.

Some highlights of the briefing:

The presentation concluded:

**********

The next meeting of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority will be on Dec. 13 at 8 a.m. at Monument Town Hall, 166 Second St. In 2008, the meetings will normally be held on the third Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. The meeting place will typically alternate between Palmer Lake and Monument, although other meeting places are being considered.

As expected, rates are going up starting Jan. 1, 2008. The Academy Water and Sanitation District board approved a much-needed increase in water rates and service fees during discussions about the 2008 budget; notices will be sent to residents in November.

The service fee increase of $10 is actually a reinstatement of a charge that had been reduced six years ago. It covers operations of water and wastewater services. Water rates will go up $1 per 1,000 gallons. The average home uses 5,000 gallons, so the monthly bill will increase at least $15 a month.

The increase was necessary to cover the shortfall in the budget and pay for future repairs and facility improvements. The district’s auditor had criticized the board this year for selling water at less than it costs to produce it.

The board decided it could not afford to renew full membership in the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority, a group composed of area water providers that addresses water supply issues in the region. Academy board President Richard DuPont said the board hopes the authority will consider letting the district join as an associate member in 2008 for $5,000, the amount the district paid this year that is being set aside for next year. Membership dues were increased to $25,000 for all districts, no matter the size.

Civil engineer Fred Ladd of Ladd International had been asked to come up with some numbers for building a facility that would treat ammonia in the wastewater, which the current system cannot do but will be required to do by 2010. Ladd brought drawings of plans for building a sequencing batch reactor, using the existing facilities as much as possible.

He cautioned that the final numbers will be hard to pin down. The site application process and permits are costly and take time, possibly a year, equipment might take several months to arrive, and the cost of everything will continue to increase dramatically. Once construction begins, it would take at least a year to complete. During that time, the district would use the dry lagoon, since the new operations would sit where the currently active lagoons are. In addition, once the facility was up and running, staff would need to be hired to staff it continuously.

Ladd estimates the cost of building and operating such a facility would be roughly $678,300. Merging with Donala Water and Sanitation District would cost $800,000.

Meanwhile, some members of the board were planning to meet on Nov. 14 with Donala’s engineer to discuss the numbers involved with a possible merger.

Operator Jerry Jacobson reported that Well 1 "trips out when started," so it can’t be used. It’s possible that the 3-year-old well’s pump will have to be replaced. The district has three wells. The two shallow ones are Well 1 (the newest well) and Well 3. The primary water sources, however, are Wells 2 and 3, so water supply is not an issue.

**********

The Academy board meets at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month at the fire station on Sun Hills Drive. The next meeting is Dec. 5.

On Nov. 8, rate consultant Roger Hartman recommended a new service rate model and that the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District Board initiate a series of 7.5 percent raises to cover rapidly rising projected costs for obtaining and storing new sources of surface and groundwater in the near future. All board members were present.

Hartman said he had been gathering data for eight months to prepare a proposal for user fees that produced enough revenue to ensure fiscal stability during continued district expansion while promoting wise use of water resources by district customers. He said his draft rate structures would meet the state’s test for being reasonable, rational, and related to the costs for providing water and sanitary sewer service. They are based on a growth rate of about 92 single-family equivalent residential taps per year.

Hartman proposed that rates should increase uniformly at 7.5 percent per year through 2015. Due to planned construction costs of about $22 million in 2012, the district would have to seek a general obligation or revenue bond issue of about $8 million that year. A reserve of about $14 million would be accumulated by 2012 to pay the remainder of the cost.

Hartman also proposed three rate structure change options to more equitably allocate operating costs between residential and commercial users while strongly encouraging water conservation through tiered rates for heavier-than-average use. There was a lengthy technical discussion of how the various rates have influenced customers in other districts where Hartman has been a consultant.

The board approved an increase for residential users, making up more than 90 percent of the number of district accounts, beginning on Jan. 1 with three tiers of rates. It passed by a vote of 4-1, with Wyss opposed. Current water rates have nine tiers to discourage high use. Rates for the 50 commercial customers that provide about 10 percent of the district’s use revenue will also be subject to the 7.5 percent overall increase.

A decision on changing rates for Lewis-Palmer School District 38 and Colorado Pines Country Club for non-potable water was deferred to gather additional information. The new rates will be posted on the district’s Web site early in 2008 and enclosed in the January billing.

Jim Wyss reported that costs and revenues, other than construction, were tracking very closely with the mid-year revisions the board had previously approved. Only about $500,000 of the $2.5 million for construction had been spent. District Manager Phil Steininger said the rest of the appropriated but unspent money was for the delayed Well 20 project. Most of that funding will now be rolled over to 2008.

Director Benny Nasser reported that Monument Sanitation District Manager Mike Wicklund had negotiated an agreement with Monument Town Manager Cathy Green and Public Works Director Rich Landreth to begin treating town drinking water with caustic soda to try to reduce the amount of copper leached from residential and commercial water pipes into that district’s wastewater.

Woodmoor has treated its drinking water with caustic soda for over 10 years and has significantly lower copper concentrations in its wastewater than Monument and Palmer Lake Sanitation Districts.

Public Works is expected to have the treatment equipment installed and on line by January. The town and the Monument Sanitation District will each pay half of the installation costs, expected to be no more than a total of about $70,000.

Nasser noted that the Joint Use Committee would approve its 2008 budget at the regular monthly meeting to be held on Dec. 11. The committee will hold its annual meeting on Dec. 20 at the Monument Sanitation District office, where all the directors of each of the three districts attend to discuss long-term issues.

Manager’s report: Steininger said he would discuss water resource issues and strategies and personnel issues at the end of the meeting in executive session.

Operations Superintendent Randy Gillette said the district was operating entirely on surface water at a rate of about 350 gallons per minute from Lake Woodmoor, which amounts to about 34 million gallons per month. The district is making better progress on its flushing program than expected, and it should be concluded within another two weeks.

Civil Engineer Jessie Shaffer said the construction contract for Well 20 had been finalized and signed by the district. A notice to proceed was issued for both portions of the project – the transmission line for the well and the Congressional sewer replacement. A pre-construction meeting was scheduled with the contractor for the following week, and construction work was to begin in about two weeks.

The applications for an environmental 404 permit for the infiltration galley of the Monument Creek exchange improvements are being processed by Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once the permit is issued by the Corps, the repairs will be initiated immediately.

Construction contractor URS is completing its stability analysis and revising the cost estimate for the Lake Woodmoor dam. Cornerstone Boundary Consultants is completing the required survey of the site. URS will then submit the design and specifications for the dam repair to the state dam inspection office in Pueblo.

Subdivision infrastructure construction is progressing normally in Knollwood Village Filings 1 and 2 for a looped water main. Misty Acres and Village Center at Woodmoor Filing 2 are nearing conditional acceptance following completion of corrections required by the district.

Steininger said the district had filed its adjudication plan for groundwater for several areas included since 1998. Some restrictions will limit where wells can be drilled to gain access to the adjudicated water in the Arapahoe aquifer.

A public hearing was held on the draft 2008 budget. There were no public comments. A vote on the final 2008 budget will be held at the next meeting on Dec. 13.

After a lengthy final review of all the changes proposed for the district’s personnel policy manual proposed by Steininger and the district’s attorney, Erin Smith, over the past year, the board unanimously approved the amendments.

The meeting went into executive session at 4:30 p.m. No board decisions or votes took place after the meeting returned to regular session for adjournment

**********

The next meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the district conference room, 1845 Woodmoor Drive. Meetings are normally held on the second Thursday of the month at 1 p.m. Information: 488-2525.

On Nov. 27, the Triview Metropolitan District Board elected director Bob Eskridge to replace former president Steve Stephenson. District Manager Larry Bishop presented the difficulties the district will have in developing its 2008 budget after all four of its ballot initiatives to increase revenues with new impact fees were voted down on Nov. 6. All board members were present.

Vice President Joe Belzer presided at the beginning of the meeting. The board unanimously approved Eskridge as the new president after Director Julie Glenn declined a nomination for the position. Belzer advised the board that he wished to step down as vice president. Glenn advised the board that she wished to step down as secretary/treasurer. Director Joe Martin was unanimously appointed vice president. Director Mark Veenendaal was unanimously appointed secretary/treasurer. Eskridge presided over the remainder of the meeting.

Bishop recognized district operations and maintenance manager Steve Sheffield had passed his "B" level water and wastewater certification exam on his first try, calling it a "monumental achievement." Bishop said Sheffield would begin studying for his "A" certification. Eskridge told Sheffield this was "outstanding" news. Sheffield was "excused" from the rest of the meeting as a "reward," to much laughter.

Bishop proposed that the next board meeting be held at 5 p.m. on Dec. 11 so that the final 2008 budget, appropriation, and mill levy can be approved and forwarded to the state’s Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) by the Dec. 15 deadline. The board unanimously approved.

District Administrator Dale Hill reported that she and Bishop had determined that costs for substitute habitat for Preble’s meadow jumping mouse should be re-allocated from the district’s enterprise fund to the general fund.

Hill said one residential tap fee was received from Classic Homes for Sanctuary Pointe. A commercial tap fee was received from Walgreen’s in the Monument Ridge center.

Hill reported three unusually high expenses for the month. The Jackson Creek crosswalks were repainted with thermoplastic paint at a cost of about $34,000. Total street repair costs for the month were about $60,000. The A-4 well house insulation was upgraded with sprayed-in foam to prevent rodent infestation and related health problems.

Water production accountability remains at a very high 95 percent and about 400 acre-feet of water had been pumped through the end of October. Consumption and pumping are dropping due to colder weather.

The board unanimously approved a revised intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Monument for operations and maintenance services being provided by the town’s Public Works Department. The base rate for services in 2008 will be $16,082 per month. The total cost is $192,984. The town will begin servicing the district’s wastewater collection system in addition to the water system.

The board unanimously approved a 10 percent water rate increase for 2008 to cover operating costs. The basic water rate was increased from the current rate of $10 per month to $11 for a standard residential 3/4" tap. He added that Triview’s water rates are neither the highest or lowest within the Tri-Lakes region.

Bishop noted that at the Oct. 23 meeting he had provided OCN a table that incorrectly listed the current base rate as $8.17. This incorrect rate of $8.17 was published on page 20 of the Nov. 3 edition of OCN. The error made the rate increase appear to be a much higher percentage increase (32 percent) than the actual 10 percent rise.

The average sewer rate will increase from $32.66 to $37.62. Bishop noted that a minimum average of $35 per month is required to break even on the district’s direct costs for wastewater treatment. This is also the minimum average rate that allows the district to sustain the minimum reserve required by the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority as a condition for their loan to the district for expansion of the Upper Monument Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility.

These sewer rates remain the highest rates in the Tri-Lakes region. Bishop said these rates are higher due to a relatively fewer number of taps compared to the other districts providing sewer service.

Bishop said that if the amended tiered water rate structure did not discourage excessive watering of landscaping, the board can increase the rates for the higher usage tiers later in 2008.

The board unanimously approved a resolution including the following new service charges commencing January 1, 2008:

Base rate increase from $10.00/month to $11.00/month per SFE for a ¾" meter

1" from $19.61 to $21.57

1 1/2" $39.20 $43.12

2" $79.34 $87.27

3" $186.24 $204.86

4" $343.07 $377.38

6" $823.37 $905.71

8" $1976.05 $2173.66

Volume charge increase as follows:

0-6,000 gal. from $2.61 to $2.87

6,001-20,000 gal. $3.27 $3.60

Over 20,000 gal. $4.76 $5.24

Commerical/Industrial $3.01 $3.31

Base rate increase from $17.00/month to $20.40/month per SFE for a ¾" meter

1" from $33.88 to $40.66

1 ½" $67.77 $81.32

2" $137.22 $164.66

3" $321.88 $386.26

4" $592.93 $711.52

6" $1,423.04 $1,707.65

8" $3,422.05 $4,106.46

The board unanimously approved the application by the town of Fountain to join the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority.

Bishop reported that the proposal by INVenergy to build a well field near Spruce Mountain to provide water for a Squirrel Creek power plant southeast of Fountain had been dropped. INVenergy was purchased by Excel Energy and Excel does not want to build that power plant. The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority (PPRWA) had planned to use some of the Spruce Mountain water and substitute this water in Monument Creek with excess effluent from wastewater facilities.

Bishop noted that PPRWA annual dues had been standardized at $25,000 per district. He added that because of the financial constraints the district now has, that Triview may wish to withdraw as a dues paying member. He noted that there would be a high financial penalty when the district rejoins PPRWA as a full member later to gain access to renewable water. He said he planned to continue attending PPRWA meetings as "part of the public" until Triview can afford membership payments in the future. Bishop added that Triview membership is critical to the effectiveness of PPRWA when it is time to purchase renewable water resources.

The board unanimously approved a contract with The Monument Carwash for a single bay automatic car wash that will be attached to the Grease Monkey building currently under construction in the Monument Marketplace. Some of the terms in the contract are:

"Triview will lose tap fees and impact fees equivalent to one single family unit or the sum of nineteen thousand five hundred fifty dollars ($19,550). In addition, Triview has to be compensated for the value of securing one half-acre foot (.5) of renewable water at a cost of $14,000 per acre-foot for a total of $7,000.00. Car Wash therefore agrees to pay to Triview the total sum of twenty six thousand five hundred fifty dollars ($26,550) at the time of the issuance of a building permit plus all applicable tap and impact fees for the Car Wash."

"Car Wash agrees to reclaim 75% to 80% of its water usage and further agrees to limit its annual usage to not more that 100,000 gallons annually from January 1 to December 31 of each year. At any time that this usage is exceeded by Car Wash, the District may terminate water service for the remainder of the year."

Classic Homes does not plan to build houses in the development for 2-3 years and the tank could not be leak checked while remaining empty. Deductions proposed by Weaver General Construction Company of Englewood are about $62,000 in 2008 and $84,000 in 2009. Donala will provide supplementary water during expansion of the plant through interconnections at Gleneagle Drive and Jackson Creek Parkway. Triview will replace all the water, gallon for gallon, after the construction is completed. The 22-week project will be initiated as soon as the district gets approval from regional building so construction is completed before the summer peak usage.

Bishop said the loan application for an additional loan of about $2 million from DOLA for the increased costs of the wastewater treatment facility had been rejected. Bishop said that the district’s draft credit report from DOLA indicated that the district did not have the money to pay back the loan, due to the downturn in the real estate market and lack of expected tap fees. Currently, all mill levy revenues must be applied to repaying bonds issued by the district in 2003 and 2006. All other financial assets can be used to repay DOLA however.

Bishop proposed that the board consider moving some of the district’s allocated assets and debt out of the enterprise fund to the general fund to make the enterprise fund look "more attractive" to bond attorneys. Bishop also said that the district’s auditor advised that loss of the district’s enterprise status for 2007 may be reversible based on what the bond attorneys are now saying. However, Bishop added that the district still does not have enough revenues to pay for the additional loan or the current DOLA loan.

Bishop said that the board could alternatively consider increasing the mill levy without voter approval to cover the debt service from 25 mills. "I do believe we can go as high as 62 mills." He added, "Politically it may not be the right thing to do. We may all be strung up and hung. I’m not here to recommend that we do that nor am I here to make any recommendations on transferring the debt from the enterprise side to the district (general fund) side." He noted that if the debt is transferred to the general fund, the district would lose its enterprise status in 2008 and definitely be ineligible for the loan of an additional $2 million from DOLA.

He said he had to provide an answer to the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority by noon on Nov. 28. Bishop said he would probably suggest that they withhold the district’s loan application –"put on hold" – until engineering consultant firm GMS, Inc. can provide projected earnings for November through January that could be paid toward wastewater expansion construction expenses. About $1 million remains from the current loan. If this is not enough money, then the district may have to ask Donala Water and Sanitation District to loan Triview the money to sustain the expansion contract.

Bishop summarized:

Bishop added that if the ballot issues had passed, the problem would still occur because there would be no significant impact fees collected due to the current lack of growth within the district.

Bishop also noted that the district has "limited ability to fund the infrastructure that the existing service plan says we have to install. If we maintain our enterprise status, we can ask the developer to fund it and we’ll give him a note that says we owe you this money and we’ll pay you sometime out of anything that may be left. So you’re back to square one. We have the ability to ask again for voter authorized debt. That is going to take a long and very well-planned and financed education so that the voters understand exactly what we’re asking for."

Bishop added, "The other thing we can do is look at the developer and say we’re broke. You get to do it if you want to develop. I’ll see you in court. [We would] go before the judge and say how can you make us pay for it. We have gone to our voters and they have said no. So the judge has to make a call based on what he sees in the service plan and what we’ve tried to do. We don’t know how it would go because we’re not judges."

Bishop reported that the district has still not received the required deed for all the water rights under the Monument Ridge parcel. Attorney Pete Susemihl offered to contact Jim Morley to expedite the transfer of the rights after they are calculated by Morley’s hydrologist.

Negotiations are continuing to determine how to acquire a "404" environmental permit after completing removal of a sediment infringement problem after the breech of a dam north of the King Soopers center. Payment of the fee for sediment removal and restoration of the damaged mouse habitat (about 6.4 acres) is eligible to be liened if the three vacant properties that caused the problem are put up for sale by owners Miles Grant and Tim Phelan.

The board adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

**********

The next meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the district conference room, 174 Washington St. Normally meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Board members were presented with the latest changes to the 2008 budget proposal, with a request from Chief Robert Denboske that they add their comments before the next meeting in two weeks, when the budget has to be submitted to the state.

The position of deputy chief, which had been on the budget and Denboske had hoped would start Jan. 1, was eliminated. Because Ken Cox, a firefighter/maintenance manager, will become full-time maintenance manager Jan. 1, another firefighter was to have been hired to fill that slot. But that has been postponed until later in the year.

The two new Ford F-150s arrived, one red, one white. One of them will replace the Chevy Blazer that is currently in poor condition. It was suggested that the Blazer be donated to a new fire district on the eastern plains. No decision was made.

Regarding the purchase of a new tender, Denboske said a letter of commitment was sent to the owner of the 1995 tender that Cox had discussed at the October meeting. The owner has agreed to hold the tender until after Jan. 1, when the new budget will allow for the purchase. Denboske said the owner has also agreed to help build storage boxes on the side. The board voted to donate the old tender to Brad Dale of High Country Trees, as a way of thanking him for his service to the Fire Authority in the past.

The Cripple Creek fire district is interested in purchasing the Woodmoor-Monument district’s ladder truck, and paperwork has begun toward that. However, the Fire Authority’s current ladder truck has a possible stress fracture in the ladder. It had passed a ladder test around three weeks ago, but during a recent training, something happened, Denboske said. Inspectors will be coming in to test it and see what went wrong, since it was recently certified.

Denboske wasn’t sure if it could be repaired, but suggested that they may need to hold on to Woodmoor-Monument’s ladder truck.

The 2001 ambulance, the smaller of three, had an electrical issue that has been repaired but the ambulance electronics need to be "reset." It will have to be taken to Longmont for that service.

Role of volunteers: There was discussion over the fact that volunteers will no longer be used in operational positions. Non-operational positions, such as radio operators and those who administer the Senior Citizen Safety Program, will remain staffed by volunteers.

The resident program at Station 2 — where student firefighters train and receive room, board, books, and a small stipend — falls into a gray area as to whether or not they are considered volunteers or employees. That designation could affect how the department applies for grants. It was decided that the authority’s auditor needs to be consulted on the matter.

Inclusion of the Woodmoor district into the Tri-Lakes district: Denboske reported that "everything is moving along smoothly" toward inclusion. The bank has been consulted regarding account name changes and money transfers, which will take place on Jan. 2.

Phone problems: Pocock said he finds it "very frustrating" that the main business phone line (not the 9-1-1 line) is not answered by someone during traditional business hours. "It seems like someone should be answering the phone," he complained. Denboske said he would look into the problem.

Ambulance rates: Battalion Chief Greg Lovato handed out a sheet summarizing fees charged by six other area ambulance services, five of them operated through fire districts and one a private company. Fees were broken down by Advanced Life Support, Basic Life Support, and Mileage (a one-way "per loaded mile" trip to the hospital).

He said that before rates are raised, "We need to investigate the efficiency of billing, our rate of return, our collections of overdue bills … and good billing software that’s efficient and accurate." He said that because of the increases in gas prices, the authority could "safely increase the mileage fee." He emphasized the need for better software, and the board gave him the go-ahead to investigate software options.

Regarding collections and increasing fees, treasurer John Hildebrandt said, "You want to cover your expenses. You don’t want to be the lowest, you don’t want to be the highest." But he added that "you don’t want to go too long without any increases," in order to keep up with expenses.

The board decided to table rate increases.

*********

The next meeting of the Tri-Lakes-Monument Fire Rescue Authority will be on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m., at Tri-Lakes district Station 1, 18650 Highway 105 (next to the bowling alley). The primary purpose of the meeting will be to approve the 2008 budget. For more information, call Chief Denboske at 481-2312 or visit www.tri-lakesfire.com. 

The Donald Wescott Fire Protection District Board unanimously approved several noteworthy budget actions for 2008 on Nov. 28. The board approved the addition of a third full-time firefighter to each of the three shifts to increase engine manning to three people, increased the district’s contribution to the volunteer pension fund from $75,000 to $100,000, and to pay off the debt on two engines and the building addition for Station One two years early. Director Kraig Sullivan was absent.

The addition of the three firefighters improves the service level for district constituents and mutual safety for the crews in moving closer to meeting optimum National Fire Protection Agency standards. There will still be a Wescott firefighter accompanying the American Medical Response paramedic on the AMR ambulance during each shift. This ups the total number of full-time personnel on duty for each shift from four to five. The three new firefighters will join the full-time staff on Dec. 27. They will be sworn in at the next meeting on Dec. 19.

The $25,000 increase in the annual contribution to the volunteer pension fund will also increase the matching funds contributed by the state, further bolstering the actuarial solvency of the fund.

Paying off the debt on the older of the district’s two lease-purchase loans frees up funding to pay for additional personnel, equipment, and facilities in 2009 and beyond. The planned payment was increased from $162,600 to $357,339.76.

These two changes result in the district’s fund balance dropping from $818,918 at the beginning of 2008 to $671,126.24 at the end of the year. Total expenses of $1,913,339.76 exceed total revenues of $1,765,548 ­– based on 7.0 mills and an assessed value for the district of $235,678,290 – by $147,791.76.

The 2007 budget was amended to incorporate actual expenses and revenues to date. The fund balance at the end of 2007 is estimated to increase from $417,915 to $818,918 due to a significant increase in property tax revenue from new commercial construction within the district’ taxing area.

The meeting went into executive session to discuss a personnel issue at 9:05 p.m.

**********

The next meeting is at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19 in the district conference room in Station One, 15415 Gleneagle Drive. Meetings are normally held on the third Wednesday of the month. Information: 488-8680.

Below: Monument Police Chief Jake Shirk briefed the Board of Trustees on Nov. 5 about new programs he has initiated within the department. From the left clockwise: Town Clerk Scott Meszaros; Town Manager Cathy Green; Trustees Dave Mertz, Travis Easton, Steve Samuels, Gail Drumm, Tommie Plank, and Tim Miller; Town Treasurer Pamela Smith; and Chief Shirk. Photo by Jim Kendrick.

The Monument Board of Trustees met first on Nov. 5 at the Second Street Art Market, 366 Second St., for a reception and formal night-time lighting of the Ice Harvest art display. Police Chief Jake Shirk gave a 30-minute presentation on how the department is meeting its four main objectives but needs additional staffing to match growing service demands within Tri-Lakes.

Town Treasurer Pamela Smith presented a draft 2008 budget during the first of two public hearings on the document. She asked the board to review the 81-page document prior to the formal hearing on the final draft in December. All board members were present.

Heather Buchman, owner of the Second Street Art Gallery, hosted a reception at 5:30 p.m. for the Board of Trustees, Art Walls 2007 sponsors, and town staff. Betty Konarski, president of Tri-Lakes Views, reviewed the historical significance of the photograph of ice cutting at Monument Lake depicted on 13 panels spanning 30 feet in width that are raised 9 feet above the ground on posts for better visibility at the intersection of Second Street and Beacon Lite Road. The entire mural was hand-painted in reverse and constructed by Fort Collins artists Lisa J. Cameron and Tim Upham. Ice Harvest is designed to reflect the historical significance of ice harvesting from the lakes in the Tri-Lakes region. (For more information, visit www.trilakesviews.org and www.secondstreetart.com.)

Konarski also thanked all the sponsors of the project and the members of the Tri-Lakes Views Steering Committee, as well as Eagle Scout candidate Danny Ball of Troop 56, who raised about $600 in donations and performed the landscape planting for the concrete and brick patio under the display. Rogers Davis of the Palmer Lake Historical Society discussed the photos and narrative provided for the Ice Harvest brochure and noted that ice-cutting tools are on display at the Palmer Lake Historical Museum in the library building next to Town Hall.

Tri-Lakes Views Inc. was formed in 2003 by incorporators Sky Hall, Rebecca Hendrickson, and Betty Konarski as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Its mission is "to enrich our community by supporting activities which showcase the arts and preserve the region’s unique history" via three tasks:

At the beginning of the regular board meeting, Mayor Byron Glenn commented that on two separate occasions, it took Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Rescue Authority over 10 minutes to respond to Jackson Creek for his next-door neighbor’s calls about a 9-month-old baby who had stopped breathing after going into "convulsions." Both 911 emergency phone calls were made on regular land lines rather than on cell phones.

Glenn noted that the Donald Wescott Fire Protection District station is "right across the street," referring to Baptist Road. Wescott’s Station 1 is much closer to Jackson Creek than any of the three Tri-Lakes Monument fire stations. Glenn said the Tri-Lakes response times were "totally unacceptable for our small community." He asked Town Manager Cathy Green to consult with Tri-Lakes Chief Rob Denboske about "this whole political thing" to determine why Wescott is not responding to Jackson Creek emergency medical calls. Glenn added that his neighbor was pretty upset that there was no improvement in response times between her two 911 calls.

Note: Emergency 911 calls made on cell phones go to a different dispatcher in Colorado Springs, requiring additional questions and answers to determine the location of the emergency due to the lack of immediate caller ID address information for cell phone calls. Once the location and emergency information is obtained, it is forwarded to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher and then to the fire dispatcher. This process slows the initial dispatch and response of ambulance and fire vehicles, adding minutes to the total response time.

Glenn noted that the new Struthers Road connection to the south side of the intersection of Baptist Road and Jackson Creek Parkway had been opened. Glenn added, "As far as (the opening of) Baptist Road, your guess is as good as mine."

Glenn said he was working with Monument Director of Developer Services Tom Kassawara and Baptist Road I-25 interchange project manager Bob Torres of Carter Burgess Construction on a plan to begin construction through condemnation of right-of-way on the north side of Baptist Road between the interchange owned by THF Realty (the former Foxworth-Galbraith property) and Darel Tiegs’ ADK Monument Developers LLC. Glenn noted that neither "give up the right-of-way" to the Baptist Road Rural Transportation Authority (BRRTA) that is paying for the upgrade of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) interchange. Torres was CDOT director for the region including El Paso County until his recent retirement to take his current position as group manager with Carter Burgess.

Ordinarily, CDOT will not advertise for construction bids for any of its road projects until it has obtained the deeds for all required right-of-way. Glenn said it was unlikely that there would be any repaving of the badly deteriorated asphalt on Baptist Road west of Jackson Creek Parkway prior to the awarding of a construction contract after access to or ownership of all the necessary right-of-way has been obtained from THF, ADK, Valero Energy Corp., and Phoenix-Bell. The Schuck Corp. has already donated right-of-way to BRRTA for the south side of Baptist Road, west of the interchange. (See article on the Nov. 9 meeting of the Baptist Road Rural Transportation Authority on page 24 for more details.)

Trustee Gail Drumm said that the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority will select a program manager soon and that he believed that the quality of Regional Building Department inspections has been improving recently even though new construction is down.

Chief Shirk said the reason for his briefing was that "there is a misunderstanding, lack of information, and perception issue about all the different things that the Police Department is involved in." He added that Green had recommended that he give the presentation to the board. Also present for the briefing were: Sgt. Rick Tudor, Sgt. Steve Burk, Cpl. Mark Owens, Officer Steve Lontz, and Mary Ellen Burk, the office and records administrator as well as the court clerk. There are 19 employees in the department.

Some of the points Shirk made in his half-hour presentation were: The department will ensure that Monument is a safe place to live, work, and visit by safeguarding individual liberties, building community partnerships, preventing crime, and aggressively pursuing those who commit crime.

Some of the policies for safeguarding individual liberties are:

Some of the recently developed community partnerships include:

Some crime prevention activities include:

Crime pursuit actions include:

During a 20-minute discussion of Shirk’s presentation, board members offered thanks and encouragement to Shirk and his staff members attending the meeting, particularly in facilitating communications regarding community partnerships, Neighborhood Watch programs, problem-oriented policing, and joint truck inspections with Palmer Lake Police and the inspectors at the Monument Hill I-25 ports.

Shirk noted in response to Trustee Tim Miller’s question about drug problems in Monument that the department has aggressively pursued drug issues and discovered more "underground problems" than expected. This was also true of expanded operations for DUIs, computer fraud, and identity theft. Shirk added that drug arrests, including those made by Monument Police in joint operations outside of the town’s boundaries, directly benefit the safety of Monument’s citizens via reduced burglaries and shoplifting.

The board unanimously approved a resolution to impose liens for a total of $8,359 on the future sale of three properties for failure to pay water bills:

New signs for these routes will cost about $1,000.

The board unanimously approved a resolution to establish an intergovernmental service agreement for Monument Public Works to provide staff for water and sanitary sewer operations within Forest Lakes Metropolitan District, similar to the town’s current agreement with Triview Metropolitan District. Forest Lakes will pay all salary and operating expenses, such as parts and supplies by invoice from the town.

Treasurer Smith noted that the format of the 81-page budget had been extensively revised to make it easier for staff and the board to read and analyze how revenues are distributed to the various funds. There were no public comments on the preliminary budget. Trustee Steve Samuels asked for a tiered water-use rate structure to discourage high water consumption for irrigation. Public Works Director Rich Landreth will discuss possible options at the final budget hearing on Dec. 3.

Some of the features noted by Smith in her proposed 2008 budget were:

Drumm said the town should be "extremely careful" about raising fees because "the margin of profitability on building anything is below zero at the moment so we don’t want to make it worse than it already is." Green and Smith said that there is no proposal for increasing development fees, just use fees for property owners.

Trustee Samuels advocated a revision to a more steeply tiered rate structure for higher than average water use to limit abusive and wasteful watering since there will be few development fees collected for residential construction in 2008. Samuels said that commercial development is already growing again. Green said the staff would provide a revised tier structure before spring watering begins.

Samuels also asked that future town capital contracts lock in costs to limit overruns to prevent layoffs of staff. Green reiterated the need to develop a fiscal sustainability plan for funding capital programs like stormwater and water infrastructure.

Smith also provided a summary of 2007 town sales tax earnings and collections through August that showed collections are 21.7 percent ahead of budget projections. Gross sales tax revenues through October, including the amount allocated to Triview Metropolitan District, are about $2.86 million. Some previous total annual gross sales tax revenues were:

The board approved three payments over $5,000:

Trustee Travis Easton abstained because he works as a civil engineer for Nolte.

Town Attorney Gary Shupp reported that the attorney for Kalima Masse, president of Rockwell Ready-Mix Inc. had "withdrawn" from the case. There was no other news regarding Masse’s intention to again appeal the town’s July 30 rejection of her most recent request for a renewal of the long-expired business license for the long-abandoned concrete batch plant on the northeast corner of Highway 105 and Washington Street. Masse has been appealing rejections of her repeated requests for over four years.

Green suggested that the board consider a contribution of $1,500 of the remaining $8,000 in the board’s $20,000 contingency fund prior to the end of December for publication of a book on available senior resources and services in the region.

Landreth said he would hold another meeting with volunteers for renovation of the Skate Park before the end of the year.

Kassawara said there would be a board hearing on an extensive revision of the town’s sign ordinance in December after the Planning Commission hearing of Nov. 14. Staff held two meetings with business owners to make sure the revisions, which balance the number and size of signs, do not hurt their operations.

Samuels, who is general manager for Robertson’s Landscaping in Colorado Springs, said Robertson’s would donate Christmas decorations to the town again this year.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 p.m.