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Monument Academy short $1.2 million on funding for new building

Click here or on the photos to zoom in

Below: Two views of the new Monument Academy building under construction near Highway 105 and Knollwood Drive. In June, it was disclosed that the funds available for project are $1.2 million less than what it will cost to complete it. Photos by Chris Pollard and David Cruz.

Below: June 27: (L to R) D-38 board members Mark Pfoff, Gail Wilson, and Dee Dee Eaton; Ray Blanch, D-38 Superintendent; Cheryl Wangeman, D-38 Chief Financial Officer; Shirley Trees, Executive Director of Elementary Education; Monument Academy board members Jay McKeown, Mike Wong, Diana Helffenstein, and Laura Hannon; and Brad Miller, attorney for the Monument Academy. Photo by John Heiser.

The Lewis-Palmer District 38 School board held a special meeting June 27 to review the latest information on the Monument Academy budget. During the course of the meeting, it was stated that the Monument Academy is $1.2 million short of funds to complete the new building that is under construction on Highway 105 just east of Knollwood Drive. According to district Superintendent Ray Blanch, the Monument Academy has known of the shortfall since at least the first quarter of the year; however, they did not inform district administration until June 10. Blanch reported that JE Dunn, the building contractor, has said it will stop work if additional funds are not found by the third week in July.

Present for the meeting were District 38 board members Dee Dee Eaton, Mark Pfoff, and Gail Wilson; Monument Academy board members Laura Hannon, Diana Helffenstein, Jay McKeown, and Mike Wong; and Brad Miller, attorney for the Monument Academy. District 38 board members John Mann and Jeff Cantlebary and Monument Academy board members Bob Bowker and Will Cochran were absent.

Blanch presented background on the issue. Some highlights of his presentation and the associated discussion were:

At the end of the meeting, Wilson expressed disappointment that the problem has to be addressed in a "tight time frame." She said, "Always keep in mind that we are dealing with public dollars and we have an obligation to keep the public informed as to how we are spending those dollars and why we are spending them that way." She thanked the Monument Academy for working with the D-38 board and providing clarifications.

Pfoff said, "I have absolutely no desire for Monument Academy to fail. I want them to be successful. I think they bring a great deal to the table that our district needs. I am extremely upset about how it is being run. This is huge and affects everyone in the district. I am confident that Dr. Blanch can do contingency planning and make this work in the worst-case scenario. I’m hoping and praying that something can be done to work this out and make sure every student in the district gets an education."

Wilson read a written statement from board member John Mann, who was absent. In it Mann said, "I’m a proponent of school choice. I’m very concerned with the Monument Academy’s financial management and that the construction of a new school has been underfunded for quite some time. I’m also very concerned that it has taken so long for the Monument Academy board to inform us, and apparently its stakeholders, of the status of its finances and to seek remedies for this serious situation. There is not as much opportunity to find a solution as there might have been. Nonetheless, it is my sincere hope that the Monument Academy’s board will be able to find the funding needed to complete construction of its new building in time for school to start. I would like to reassure everyone that in the event that the Monument Academy board is unable to find the funding resources required, District 38 will welcome all district students and will place them in some of the most outstanding schools in the state of Colorado."

Eaton added that the District 38 board is supportive of the Academy as has been shown over the past 12 years. She said, "We are asking really hard questions because we are concerned and we want to see it fixed and need to be informed because of our position in the district and the fact that these are all our kids." She expressed appreciation to the Monument Academy board for their help in clarifying the situation. She concluded, "We are looking out for the kids. That is our bottom line and I believe that is true for the Monument Academy as well."

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The Lewis-Palmer School District 38 Board of Education normally meets on the third Thursday of each month at the District’s Learning Center, 146 Jefferson St., Monument. The next regular monthly meeting of the board will be held July 17 at 5:30 p.m. with a reception at 5:00 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. for those receiving commendations.

The district’s Web site is at www.lewispalmer.org. 

The Monument Academy Web site is at www.monumentacademy.net. 

Decision delayed on gas drilling proposal

On June 25, U.S. Forest Service Pike National Forest, Pikes Peak Ranger Brent Botts announced that more information has been requested from Dyad Petroleum before an Environmental Assessment (EA) can be completed for the El Paso County project. No decision on the exploratory drilling proposal is expected prior to the Spring 2009.

According to Botts, "We asked Dyad Petroleum representatives for additional information about the site, roads, air and water quality and they responded favorably. It will likely take at least another six months to evaluate the information and prepare the environmental analyses."

Following receipt and evaluation of the additional information requested from Dyad, the Forest Service will prepare a formal scoping statement and solicit public comment.

Beginning in 1997, Dyad Petroleum (Dyad) of Midland, Texas began showing interest in leases on National Forest System lands in the Pikes Peak District. Since 1997, Dyad has successfully acquired leases on approximately 21,879 acres of federally owned lands west of Monument, Colorado that are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service. The lease process began with Dyad submitting an Expression of Interest to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on lands that they considered to have potential for oil and gas development. The Forest Service worked with the BLM to prepare the lease packages prior to competitive bidding. The BLM has responsibility for the management of subsurface leasable minerals, whereas the Forest Service has responsibility for the management of the surface resources on National Forest System lands.

After Dyad successfully acquired leases to lands west of Monument, they submitted Applications for Permits to Drill (APD) two natural gas exploratory wells on lands located on the Pike National Forest-Pikes Peak Ranger District. The company has proposed to drill the Mt. Herman Federal No. 1-19 and Rampart Federal No. 1-18 wells in search of hydrocarbon deposits believed to be located under the Rampart Overthrust in El Paso County.

The initial proposed well locations would have required several miles of new road construction to locate the drill pads directly above the areas of interest. The new road construction would have occurred in undisturbed, pristine areas west of Mt. Herman that are also prime habitat for many wildlife species.

In collaboration with the Forest Service, Dyad agreed to relocate their proposed drill pad locations into areas that would minimize the need to build new roads. They can accomplish this by directionally drilling into the target zone at an angle from the alternate drill pad locations. According to the Forest Service, the alternate drill pad sites would not require nearly as much disturbance because existing roads would be used as much as possible. Botts said the Forest Service is highly supportive of not having to construct new roads into the area, but the proposed drill site locations are not popular with some people who live in residential areas in close proximity to the drill sites.

Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority, June 18: Private funding being considered for pipeline

At the June 18 meeting of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority (PPRWA), a plan was discussed for potential private funding of the 80-100 mile-long pipeline to bring water to the Tri-Lakes area from the lower Arkansas River. The rate required to cover the cost of transporting the water and repaying the $500 million to $1 billion construction cost would be about $4 to $6 per 1,000 gallons. That figure does not include the costs for leasing the water, storage, and advanced water treatment. When those factors are included, the total cost for the water would substantially exceed what local districts are currently charging their customers for water. For example, the Donala district currently charges $2.75 per 1,000 gallons for a customer’s first 10,000 gallons per month.

The current members of the PPRWA are the Cherokee Metropolitan District, the City of Fountain, the Donala Water and Sanitation District, the Town of Monument, the Town of Palmer Lake, the Triview Metropolitan District, and the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District.

At the March 19 meeting of the PPRWA, the group decided to form two committees: One to pursue a source of renewable water and one to look at ways of coordinating local operations.

The renewable water committee, also known as the big picture committee, consists of representatives of Cherokee, Fountain, Monument, and Woodmoor.

The local operations committee, also known as the northern collaboration committee, consists of representatives of Donala, Monument, Palmer Lake, Triview, and Woodmoor.

At the June 18 PPRWA meeting, each of the committees reported on their progress.

Kip Peterson, Cherokee’s General Manager, reported that the committee has been discussing the report prepared by financial consultant Alex Brown on funding alternatives for the proposed pipeline from the lower Arkansas River.

Alex Brown’s analysis assumed PPRWA would use operational alternative 3 from the Boyle Engineering study; that is, water storage in the Tri-Lakes area and at Stonewall Springs with treatment near Stonewall Springs.

The analysis estimated transmission costs based on financing using a traditional 30-year municipal bond issue or using a 65-year private bond issue in a concession arrangement similar to that used to construct and operate the Northwest Parkway.

The Northwest Parkway connects I-25 and E-470 in the North Metro Denver area with U.S. 36 and State Highway 128 in Broomfield. It was entirely privately funded and is operated by Northwest Parkway, LLC. The Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority, which manages the road, has representation from the City and County of Broomfield, the City of Layfette, and Weld County. There is more information on the parkway at www.northwestparkway.org. 

The Alex Brown report presented the estimated transmission costs for 15,235 acre-feet per year and for 50,000 acre-feet per year. An acre-foot is 326,851 gallons. 15,235 acre-feet per year would address Tri-Lakes area needs and the needs of the City of Fountain and the Cherokee district. 50,000 acre-feet per year would provide additional capacity to serve other areas as a way to share the cost of construction and operation.

Here is a summary of the results of Alex Brown’s analysis:

Note that these estimates only cover the cost for transmission and do not include required operational expenses such as leasing water, storage, and advanced treatment.

In the public/private concession arrangement, the investors are reportedly seeking 8 percent to 11 percent return on investment.

Rick Fendel, attorney for the PPRWA, said Alex Brown listed 30 issues that would need to be addressed to move forward with the concession arrangement. He said one of those is the issue of exclusivity and non-competition. In the case of the Northwest Parkway, Broomfield was prevented from making significant improvements to surrounding roads because that might diminish traffic on the parkway. In the pipeline case, the local districts would have to agree not to pursue water from other sources even if those other sources offer water at a lower cost.

Gary Barber, PPRWA manager, reported on a meeting he had with representatives of the "Super Ditch" group that, if agreement can be reached, would supply the water for the pipeline. He said both sides at this point are trying to assess the seriousness of the other side.

Dana Duthie, general manager of the Donala district, noted that in a dry year some estimates are that the group may only have 15,000 acre-feet of water available for pumping through the pipeline.

Woodmoor civil engineer Jessie Shaffer reported that although the committee did not meet this month, work is continuing. He said he is awaiting the last couple questionnaires. The committee’s questionnaire solicits from each authority member an assessment of its strengths, assets, financial condition, expectations, risks, fears, and the sorts of joint projects the various boards and councils would support or oppose. Due to the sensitivity of the answers, Shaffer said he will keep the responses confidential. He plans to collate the results and identify common ground and roadblocks. Out of that analysis, he said he hopes to identify potential joint projects.

As a follow-on to the PPRWA Water Infrastructure Planning Study (WIPS) that was completed in March, Duthie reported that Donala contracted with Leonard Rice Engineers to prepare a refined water availability projection for the district. The refined study assumed a 12 percent demand reduction due to conservation by customers, revised demand projections based on the recent decrease in development in the Tri-Lakes area, and looked at using water from other aquifers in addition to the Arapahoe aquifer. Duthie said the new study projected significantly more time is available to address the coming shortfall than was estimated by the WIPS.

Duthie expressed disappointment at the lack of progress the PPRWA has made in implementing the WIPS recommendations. He said, "A consolidated well field management plan, which requires a trunk pipeline, was the first step we needed to take."

Rich Landreth, Monument’s Public Works Director, said, "I admit that we are in a wait and see mode right now." He added, "When money is tight, we want to try to spend the money in the best way possible."

Phil Steininger, PPRWA president and Woodmoor general manager, said, "There are some big unknowns right now such as what is happening with SDS. We don’t know if that is an option or not." SDS is the Southern Delivery System, a regional water delivery system to bring water from the Arkansas River to Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security, and Pueblo West. Note: There is more information on the project at www.sdswater.org. 

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The next regular meeting of the PPRWA will be held July 16 at 8:30 a.m. at Monument Town Hall, 166 Second Street in Monument. The meetings are normally held on the third Wednesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. Most of the meetings are held at Monument Town Hall; however, the meeting October 15 will be held at the Cherokee Metropolitan District office, 6250 Palmer Park Blvd. in Colorado Springs.

The PPRWA Web site is www.pprwa.com. 

Here are this month’s 10 tips for conserving water, from www.wateruseitwisely.com 

1. Use sprinklers that throw big drops of water close to the ground. Smaller drops of water and mist often evaporate before they hit the ground.
2. Leave lower branches on trees and shrubs and allow leaf litter to accumulate on top of the soil. This keeps the soil cooler and reduces evaporation.
3. Listen for dripping faucets and toilets that flush themselves. Fixing a leak can save 500 gallons each month.
4. Install an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don’t have to let the water run while it heats. This will also reduce heating costs for your household.
5. Insulate hot water pipes so you don’t have to run as much water to get hot water to the faucet.
6. Use a screwdriver as a soil probe to test soil moisture. If it goes in easily, don’t water. Proper lawn watering can save thousands of gallons of water annually.
7. Bathe your young children together.
8. Wash your car on the grass. This will water your lawn at the same time.
9. If you have an evaporative cooler, direct the water drain to a flowerbed, tree, or your lawn.
10. Encourage your friends and neighbors to be part of a water-conscious community.

Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility Manager Bill Burks informed the board members of the Joint Use Committee (JUC) that he had recently learned that the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission reclassified the upper segment of Monument Creek in June 2007. This decision may lead to much tighter water quality restrictions on the facility’s effluent when the current discharge permit for Monument Creek expires at the end of 2009.

Rather than being faced with a $1.5 million expansion to treat only copper, the JUC may now face a $25 million plant expansion to meet the much more restrictive constraints that may be imposed by the EPA’s anti-degradation policy. Operating costs would go up dramatically in either case.

Note: The Tri-Lakes facility operates as a separate public utility and is jointly owned, in equal one-third shares, by the three owning special districts: Monument Sanitation District, Palmer Lake Sanitation District, and Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District.

Monument’s alternate representative, Director Chuck Robinove, filled in for Lowell Morgan, who was out of town.

New officers were elected for the next two years: Palmer Lake’s new primary JUC representative, Dale Platt, is the new president; Woodmoor’s continuing primary representative, Benny Nasser, is the new secretary-treasurer; and Morgan, Monument’s continuing primary representative, is the new vice president.

The new alternate representatives are Palmer Lake Director Kathleen Williams and new Woodmoor Director Barrie Town.

Burks stated that the reclassification of upper Monument Creek was learned only recently in response to an application by the Woodmoor district. Woodmoor applied to the state for a second discharge permit to return water to the creek to replace water taken out farther upstream as an alternate source of drinking water. Woodmoor was informed in May that the creek’s category had been changed from "use protected." This change, made over a year ago, was unknown to the three owning special districts until it was revealed in the response to the application.

This "use protected" status was based on the fact that most of the time, the amount of water discharged by the Tri-Lakes facility into Monument Creek, between Monument Lake and the west end of Baptist Road, was much more than the naturally flowing surface water coming from upstream. This ratio of high-flow rates of effluent to low-flow rates of natural surface water made Monument Creek "effluent dominated." This dominance has always resulted in a stream being automatically categorized as "use protected" until now.

The removal of this "use protected" status means that federal and state anti-degradation standards will now apply to the northern segment of Monument Creek, and the standards for discharged effluent will be much tighter for the Tri-Lakes facility and the adjacent Upper Monument Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility used by Donala Water and Sanitation District and the Forest Lakes and Triview Metropolitan Districts.

On learning of the redesignation in May, Burks gave the facility’s discharge volume and creek flow data for the past 10 years to engineering consultant RTW Inc. for further analysis. The facility’s environmental lawyer, Tad Foster, also reviewed this data and concluded that the district may not be able to demonstrate that this creek segment is in fact "effluent dominated"—and, therefore, no longer "use protected"—due to current limitations in existing flow measurement equipment in Monument Creek that is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The new copper limit for the plant’s discharged effluent may drop to 1.35 parts per billion (ppb) over a two-year period, a maximum that the facility cannot meet with the existing equipment. However, current testing procedures cannot even detect copper when it is less than 5 ppb. No copper can be found in Monument Creek where it crosses Baptist Road above the Upper Monument Creek Regional Wastewater Facility. It is unclear at this time if a new more costly copper testing method will be required of Tri-Lakes.

There are no treatment standards for numerous pharmaceuticals and hormones that are routinely flushed down toilets and cannot be treated by the Tri-Lakes facility.

The original expansion cost estimate was $1.5 million for single-purpose equipment to remove additional dissolved copper by the facility’s wastewater system to meet the proposed standard of 8 ppb to be imposed in January 2010. Before the stream category issue had been raised, the Water Quality Control Division staff had told Burks that the new average copper limit for 2010-14 would likely be raised to an average of 9 ppb and a single measurement maximum of 13 ppb. Even this standard would be hard for the facility to meet without expensive modifications.

Burks and consultant engineer Mike Rothberg said meeting the anti-degradation standards would cost about $25 million for a reverse osmosis tertiary filter. However, the waste brine produced by these filters is a toxic hazardous material that presents significant problems for disposal.

Foster felt that the state’s Water Quality Control Commission and Water Quality Control Division had not notified Tri-Lakes or asked the staff or board for comment as required, Burks said. Foster said he would use that lack of notice at the next commission hearing on July 15 to appeal the unannounced change in category from "use protected."

In addition, the Water Quality Control Division has now begun to claim that the creek has never been "effluent dominated" and should never have been "use protected," despite fully acknowledging and accepting this categorization in all previous discharge permit negotiations with Tri-Lakes.

Burks said Foster and Rothberg would present an update at the July JUC meeting, including a determination of whether the facility could or should be reclassified from a major to a minor discharger. Burks will find out additional information on changing from a secondary to a tertiary treatment plant.

Rothberg then called and discussed his findings with the JUC by speakerphone. He said that the document listing the preliminary estimated discharge limits, in response to a proposal regarding return flows from Woodmoor’s proposed potable water treatment facility at a location upstream of the Tri-Lakes facility, had noted that the creek was no longer "use protected." The more restrictive anti-degradation water quality limits were applied in the preliminary estimates. They had never applied to Monument Creek facilities before now.

He had asked Foster, when he read the preliminary limits documents, if the anti-degradation limits would also apply to other facilities under the new "review designated" classification. Foster said he was unaware of the changes.

Rothberg said Foster determined that the state pushed through the new designation for Monument and Fountain Creeks with significant impacts to all dischargers in El Paso County. Rothberg added that the state now considers the creek to be roughly equivalent to "distilled water," so new limits apply to every dissolved material. For now, the burden is on Tri-Lakes to measure the concentrations of over 20 compounds in the stream to demonstrate that the stream is not pure water, as well as to demonstrate that the creek is still effluent dominated.

Because standards for all metals and other materials like ammonia will also be much stricter, consultant engineer Rothberg told the JUC that the methods required to remove a much higher percentage of all these constituents from the facility’s effluent would require far more expensive technology.

Foster will try to arrange coordinated joint negotiation as the environmental attorney simultaneously representing the Monument, Upper Monument Creek, Colorado Springs, and Security wastewater facilities. The legal and engineering consulting costs for trying to negotiate a compromise that will still result in a "swimmable, fishable stream are well worth it" in the short run, said Rothberg.

The JUC unanimously approved a motion to authorize spending by Foster and Rothberg on negotiations at their discretion (but not to exceed $10,000) until they give a more formal report at the July 8 JUC meeting

Monument District Manager Mike Wicklund noted that the JUC and the Town of Monument had spent a combined total of about $400,000 on solving the "emergency" copper problem that the state had been asking the JUC to solve. The state no longer seems to care about this problem, and this expenditure appears to have been unnecessary. "We’re now at the silly factor of bureaucracy when they throw a number like (1.35 ppb) at us," he said. "The districts should not do any more or spend any more money for now. We need to wait for notification from the state on precisely what it is that they want instead of us spending another $400,000 trying to anticipate their next move."

The districts should not pay for collection of data or experiments when it’s the state’s responsibility, Wicklund said. Any construction plans should include direct recycling of the effluent for re-use as drinking water within the area rather than letting it flow downstream in such a pure state.

Director Robinove said that rather than being a specific copper research problem, "This one is a bureaucratic and semantic problem about what the designations actually mean." He added that it would be hard to persuade taxpayers to vote for a new property tax to make the facility’s effluent 1,000 times purer than the water they are currently drinking without plans for re-use.

Nasser and Platt said that a significant public relations program, "mind prep," will be required to make the re-use concept acceptable. Robinove added that the public needs to decide how much they are willing to pay for the EPA’s definition of "clean water." He added that the district’s sanitary sewer rates will have to go up to solve either problem. Burks noted that the effluent under the new state standards would be cleaner than their current tap water and would still be processed by a drinking water treatment plant.

In other matters, the JUC unanimously approved:

Monument continued to have the highest copper readings in wastewater delivered to the facility from the southern part of the Monument collection system. Average copper concentrations in the southern Monument wastewater have ranged from 125 to 144 ppb. However, the remaining dissolved copper in the effluent discharged from the facility has ranged from a minuscule 7.8 to 8.1 ppb, well below the recently adjusted monthly average discharge limit that was increased by the commission recently back to the original limit of 24.8 ppb through the end of 2009. The commission also increased the upper limit for a single daily copper concentration test back to the original limit of 36.4 ppb at the same time.

The commission approved these increased copper limits for Tri-Lakes last summer, at about the same time it was removing the "effluent dominated" and "use protected" designations, in a separate hearing, that will result in a new average limit of 1.35 ppb.

The meeting adjourned at 11:20 p.m.

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The next meeting will be held at 10 p.m. on July 8 at the facility conference room, 16510 Mitchell Ave. Meetings are normally held on the second Tuesday of the month. Information: 481-4053.

On June 12, the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District board received a request from Jackson Creek developer Vision Development to be more flexible in reaching a compromise on providing Woodmoor with an easement for an existing sanitary sewer line in the vacant lot adjacent to the new YMCA building.

Woodmoor had stated it would not provide water and sewer service to the vacant lot to the north after Vision balked at the amount of land Woodmoor wanted for utility easements. The plat for the tract cannot be recorded until this issue is resolved, which is preventing the YMCA from getting a permanent certificate of occupancy from Monument.

All board members and staff were present at the meeting.

Vision Development representative Rick Blevins asked the board to consider changes in Woodmoor’s requirements for utilities easements within the recently approved replat of the Woodmoor-Placer Tract A parcel on the northwest corner of Higby Road and Jackson Creek Parkway, between I-25 and Lewis-Palmer High School.

Background: The replat created three lots within this mostly vacant 32-acre tract. The middle lot, occupied by the new YMCA facility, is 12 acres. There is a vacant 11.6-acre lot north of the YMCA and a vacant 8.4-acre lot to the south. The center lot was donated to the YMCA by Vision Development, which is also the developer of Jackson Creek to the south. The other two lots are still owned by Vision Development.

New utility easements were created in the replat by vacations at the common boundaries of each of the new lots. Separate gas (15 feet) and electric (20 feet) utility easements run the full length of the western boundary of the entire parcel, next to I-25.

A 30-foot-wide Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District easement runs the full length of the southern boundary of Lot 3, along Higby Road. A 20-foot utility easement runs the full length of the eastern edge of the parcel along the west side of Jackson Creek Parkway.

The previously platted 16-foot telephone access easement near the dividing line of Lots 2 and 3 and the 50-foot electrical easements near the east side of the parcel were vacated.

The Woodmoor district requested an additional utility easement along the western boundary of the subdivision that overlaps the existing Mountain View Electric Association easement and a 20-foot public utility easement across the northern boundary of Lot 1. These easements were not shown as part of the replat.

Vision Development expressed concerns at the Monument Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 13 and the Board of Trustees meeting on March 3 that these additional Woodmoor easements in Lots 1 and 3 may not be needed to provide utilities to the subdivision. The town staff recommended that these referral requests be further evaluated when development proposals for Lots 1 and 3 are submitted to the town. If any of the requested additional easements are needed, they can be dedicated as part of the final site plan approval.

Woodmoor requested that a note be added to the replat documents stating, "The Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District shall not provide any service to Lot 1 until the owner/developer dedicates utility easements to the District. Such easement alignment(s) shall be dedicated to the District in a configuration and form of legal instrument satisfactory to the District." Woodmoor’s request was made a condition of approval and listed as a note on the replat and vacation documents.

Woodmoor had also asked for another condition of approval: a new 30-foot water and sewer easement to be dedicated along the northern part of Lot 1 in the approximate location of the existing sewer easement prior to recordation of the replat. They were also made a condition of approval and listed as a note on the replat and vacation documents.

Discussion: Blevins said that the existing Woodmoor sewer line is not located in the existing district easement that cuts diagonally across the north end of the northern vacant lot, from the northwest corner to about one-quarter of the way down the eastern boundary along the parkway. He said the district is asking for another easement in the same area that would prevent development of about 25 percent of the lot.

Blevins said that Vision Development and the Town of Monument had agreed to move the existing northern easement to align with the existing Woodmoor sewer line. He added that the list of conditions in the draft easement Woodmoor had recently provided to Vision Development was "really not acceptable" because it "really confined what we could or could not do" with the north lot. His negotiations with Woodmoor’s civil engineer, Jessie Shaffer, and Woodmoor’s attorney, Erin Smith, to amend the legal description for this easement had not resolved the dispute. As a result, the replat had not been filed.

The town cannot issue a permanent certificate of occupancy for the completed YMCA building until the replat is recorded with finalized wording on Woodmoor’s additional and amended easements. The YMCA has not been able to finalize its financing agreements for its completed building without a permanent certificate.

Smith said the district already had made several refinements to the easement documents. The district is obligated to make sure no permanent structures are built on top of its water and sewer lines.

Blevins said that any trail, garden, or other landscaping would not be restored by Woodmoor if the district had to excavate to repair an existing line or install another new line within its easement. Blevins also objected to the district’s language that absolves itself of any obligation for abatement of eroded or contaminated easements after they are vacated. "I don’t think that’s very neighborly," Blevins added. However, this is common for all special districts under Colorado statutes.

Tom Kassawara, Monument’s director of Development Services, stated that it was very important that the town give the YMCA a permanent certificate of occupancy as soon as possible. However, the replat cannot be filed until the easement issue is resolved and Woodmoor has promised in writing that it will provide service to all three lots. He wanted to help reach an acceptable compromise as soon as possible.

Kassawara also noted that the existing sewer line cuts across the northeast corner, which makes it difficult for the town to ensure that Woodmoor’s access for maintenance is protected while still enabling Vision to develop the north lot without undue difficulty. At this time, neither Vision nor Woodmoor know what will be built on the north lot.

Kassawara asked what maintenance might be required to keep the line operational. Blevins added that Woodmoor has short-term plans to add new water lines throughout the tract. District Manager Phil Steininger said that there would definitely be excavation in the disputed easement since the sewer line is made of clay and will require maintenance or replacement at some point.

Blevins noted that Shaffer had recently sent him a letter saying that Woodmoor will not provide service to the north lot, which prevents Vision from recording the replat. Kassawara again asked that this issue be resolved before the town has a problem with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department for repeatedly issuing one-month temporary certificates of occupancy to the YMCA by statute.

Board President Benny Nasser said the board would address the issue expeditiously and start discussing its legal and negotiating options in executive session at the end of the meeting.

Nasser reported on the discussions at the Joint Use Committee (JUC) June meeting, particularly the issues created as a result of the Water Quality Control Commission removing the "use protected" stream designation from Monument Creek. Woodmoor’s consultant engineer, Mike Rothberg of RTW Inc., gave a lengthy presentation on the issues that were discussed at the JUC meeting. See the JUC article for details of this issue and the others that were discussed.

Rothberg stated that the much tighter anti-degradation water quality limits that will likely be imposed on the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility will lower the allowable amounts of heavy metals and ammonia so much that only a tertiary reverse-osmosis filtering process will be able to meet the new state restrictions. This kind of filtering would cost about $25 million to build. This is more than three times the total investment in the current facility.

The allowable level of dissolved copper will drop from an average of 24.8 parts per billion (ppb) to 1.35 ppb under the new "use review" process for negotiating the limits of new facility discharge permits that will go in effect in January 2010.

The rest of the discussion was deferred to the executive session at the end of the meeting to receive legal advice on negotiating positions.

Manager’s report: Steininger reported that the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority had started discussions with Colorado Springs Utilities regarding participation in the proposed Southern Delivery System that will bring water into this region from the Pueblo reservoir. No offer will be made by Utilities to the authority or any individual water district until it completes its environmental impact study in early 2009.

The authority is also conducting a financial study on how large a project can be financed via general obligation or revenue bonds. The authority is meeting with representatives of the Lower Arkansas River Conservancy Group to discuss possible purchase of surface water in the future.

There has been a lot of discussion by authority members on safe disposal of pharmaceuticals. There is no consensus yet on procedures to meet regulations on safe disposal of schedule 2 drugs other than placing them in landfills. Only law enforcement officers can move significant quantities of this class of narcotic drugs.

All other water issues were deferred to executive session.

Some of the other issues reported were:

The board went into executive session at 2:30 p.m.

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The next meeting will be held at 1 p.m. on July 10 at the district conference room, 1845 Woodmoor Drive. Meetings are normally held on the second Thursday of the month. Information: 488-2525.

The possible changes to the classification of Monument Creek below the Monument Lake dam that were first revealed at the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility Joint Use Committee (JUC) meeting on June 10 were further clarified at the Monument Sanitation District Board meeting on June 24.

The reclassification of Monument Creek by the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment occurred in mid-2007. The three special districts that own equal shares of the Tri-Lakes facility—Monument Sanitation District, Palmer Lake Sanitation District, and Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District—were unaware of this change until the past month. The cost of meeting tighter new purity standards in effluent could soar from $1.5 million to about $25 million.

Director Lowell Morgan was out of town, and his absence was unanimously excused.

Background: Woodmoor recently asked the Water Quality Control Division for a review of its tentative preliminary plans to take some water from Monument Creek above Monument Lake to store in Lake Woodmoor for treatment as potable water. Woodmoor would return an equal amount of water to the creek a few hundred feet above the effluent discharge of the Tri-Lakes facility or as excess effluent from the facility.

The division’s comments on Woodmoor’s proposal in May revealed that the creek had been redesignated.

Throughout the life of the Tri-Lakes facility, Monument Creek had been considered to be "effluent dominated," which means that for most of the year more than half of the flow in Monument Creek downstream of the Tri-Lakes facility consists of treated wastewater. In June 2007, the Water Quality Control Division asked the Water Quality Control Commission to no longer consider the creek "effluent dominated."

As a result of that decision a year ago on this particular criterion—one of several that are applicable—much more stringent federal Environmental Protection Agency restrictions may be applied in the facility’s new five-year discharge permit that begins in January 2010.

The three districts were unaware of the category change that took place a year ago until early June 2008. These three districts will formally appeal that redesignation at a commission rehearing on July 15. The change may drastically increase the potential capital cost to meet the tighter new purity standards of the facility’s effluent. The cost could jump from $1.5 million for removing only more of the current minuscule amounts of dissolved copper in the facility’s effluent to about $25 million for removing all known metals and other trace chemicals such as ammonia.

Monument Sanitation District Director Mike Wicklund first discussed the facts of the creek redesignation that were discussed at the JUC meeting on June 10. (See the JUC article for the details of that meeting.)

After this JUC meeting, Wicklund asked the district’s consultant engineering firm, GMS Inc., to provide more complete information. He reviewed a memorandum on Monument Creek water quality issues that will be reviewed at the Water Quality Control Commission hearing on July 15. The memo was written by professional engineer Roger Sams on June 17. Some of the points in Sams’ memo were:

The state’s Water Quality Control Division has determined that there may have been "the appearance of a faulty notice and due process when the water quality classifications and numeric standards were presented at the triennial hearing conducted in 2007" by the Water Quality Control Commission regarding the Arkansas River basin, which includes upper Monument Creek.

Note: The Palmer Divide separates the Arkansas basin from the South Platte River Basin. There is only a very short segment of Monument Creek that is upstream of the Tri-Lakes facility, the first wastewater facility on the creek, about a mile south of Monument Lake. The Upper Monument Creek Regional Wastewater Facility that serves Donala Water and Sanitation District and the Triview and Forest Lakes Metropolitan Districts is a few miles farther downstream, between Baptist Road and the Air Force Academy; it will also be similarly affected by the change in the designation of Monument Creek.

"Prior to the effective date of the water quality designations adopted by the Commission as a result of the June 2007 hearing the Monument Creek segment was designated as ‘use protected.’" This "use protected" status was removed by the commission’s action.

The division has not changed its stance and is now proposing that the commission sustain the year-old removal of the "use protected" status of upper Monument Creek at the rule-making July 15 hearing by continuation of the new "undesignated" status.

The state Health Department standards that had long applied to the effluent discharged by the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility into the affected Monument Creek segment—which is officially called Fountain Creek segment 6—when the segment was designated as "use protected" and "effluent dominated" are called "table value standards." The applicable portion of the table value standards was based on these "designated stream use classifications":

Each of the numerous restrictions in the facility’s five-year discharge permit were negotiated with the Water Quality Control Division to ensure that the creek continued to meet the table value standards for these three uses, the basis of the previous "use protected" designation.

Now that the stream segment is "undesignated," the negotiations will be based on the federal EPA "anti-degradation review process in the basic standards regulation." These criteria are listed in the state Water Quality Control Commission Regulation No. 31, page 14, paragraph 31.8, which can be found at: www.cdphe.state.co.us/regulations/wqccregs/wqccreg31basicstandardsforsurfacewater.pdf. 

This review "process starts with an evaluation of existing water quality in the stream segment. There is a definition of what/how existing water quality will be determined. There are several criteria applicable to the review process which governs the regulation of so-called degradation, many of which are subjective but have some basis in current regulation and application of the regulation."

The effluent from the Tri-Lakes facility, the wastewater discharge, must not degrade the water quality of the stream segment. There are no significant wastewater or runoff discharges into Monument Creek upstream of the Tri-Lakes facility or Monument Lake. This could result in far stricter effluent restrictions on the facility.

Sams, the engineer, believes that the data from the existing stream gauge at Northgate Boulevard can show that the Tri-Lakes facility provides most of the flow in Monument Creek and remains "effluent dominated," which would be a significant factor in restoring the previous "use protected" designation and the previous applicability of the table value standards that governed the facility’s discharge permit. However, the stream gauge data from Southgate Boulevard and Woodmen Road do not support the "effluent dominated" designation.

Sams also reported another discovery. In a 2005 decision, the Water Quality Control Commission had reversed the previous automatic designation of "use protected" for stream segments that were also designated as a "Class 2, warm water aquatic life segment."

Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District learned of the drastically tighter preliminary effluent limits for this segment of Monument Creek by the Water Quality Control Division in May. Woodmoor asked the division to assess the constraints and opportunities for reuse of Woodmoor’s nontributary water that is presently discharged to Monument Creek.

The new constraints on Woodmoor and the Tri-Lakes facility dictate that "there would need to be a significant level of advanced wastewater treatment to attain those limits prior to discharge."

As a result of these two recent findings, the facility’s environmental attorney, Tad Foster, has appealed the creek segment’s redesignation based on the other applicable technical criteria in the state’s regulations.

Note: The facility’s consultant engineer, Mike Rothberg of RTW Inc., told the Woodmoor board on June 12 that the cost for new capital equipment to meet the much tighter preliminary effluent limits proposed by the Water Quality Control Division would be about $25 million. (See Woodmoor article for more details.)

District auditor Mark Gilmore of Bauerle & Co. presented an unqualified finding, the highest rating possible, for the district’s 2007 accounting and financial activities. Gilmore noted that he had no concerns or recommendations regarding the staff’s internal financial controls, policies, or procedures. The board unanimously approved the 2007 audit.

The board previously approved the development of a zero discharge program for industrial plants within the district based on the recommendation of the state and federal pre-treatment coordinators that assist and coordinate with Monument Sanitation District on meeting state and federal industrial discharge standards.

Wicklund reported that he had finished his review of the EPA Pretreatment Ordinance and had developed a final draft of a district zero discharge regulation. Only domestic sanitary waste from restrooms would be allowed to be discharged to the district’s collection system.

Wicklund asked the board if he could have Foster look it over before sending a copy of the new regulation to the state for review. The board agreed to have the document reviewed by Foster. The board also concurred with Wicklund’s recommendation to share this discharge permit documentation with the JUC, Woodmoor, and Palmer Lake.

Wicklund informed the board that he had sent in the renewed grant application to the state for supplementary funding to help pay for extension of the district’s collection system northward into the Wakonda Hills subdivision. The eastern third of the subdivision currently has collection lines installed under its residential streets. The capital costs for the remainder of planned extension have risen dramatically, far above the rate of inflation, as have all other construction material and installation costs.

Wicklund said the updated grant application included the letters from the El Paso County Health Department that asked the district to voluntarily help address the health problems caused by the numerous failing septic systems in Wakonda Hills.

The minimum size lot for a septic system was increased by the county Health Department to 2.5 acres after Wakonda Hills was completed. The lots in Wakonda Hills average only 1 acre, so in most cases, the legally non-conforming systems cannot be replaced without a very expensive total excavation of all contaminated soil within the leach fields. The excavated soil must be treated and disposed of as hazardous material. Voluntary connection by homeowners to the district’s sanitary sewer collection system—once it is installed—would be far more cost effective. However, tap fees will not cover the total cost of installing the district’s collection system. The state has provided grant support to other state sanitation districts that have helped solve similar problems.

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

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The next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 at the district conference room, 130 Second St. Meetings are normally held the third Thursday of the month. Information: 481-4886.

At beginning of the Donala Water and Sanitation District Board of Directors meeting June 18, following an executive session, the board unanimously voted to hire water attorney Harvey Curtis to make an offer to purchase a ranch for its water. Dana Duthie, Donala’s general manager, said the deal, if successful, would provide about 20 percent of the district’s total water use. A water court ruling would be needed to convert the water rights from agricultural uses to district use. No further details of the proposed property purchase were disclosed.

Board President Dennis Daugherty presided. Board members Dick Durham, William George, and Dale Schendzielos were present. Director Tim Murphy was absent.

Duthie said the reports coming back are that the three water returns workshops held so far have been very well done. Many of the participants are underway on their projects.

The irrigation rationing program began May 26 and runs through Sept. 1. Odd-numbered addresses may irrigate only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Even-numbered addresses may irrigate only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Additional information including the schedule for commercial and multi-unit buildings is posted at www.donalawater.org/Rationing.html. 

Duthie said most customers are following the rules; however, the district has issued several warning letters and a couple second warning letters. He also noted that the Ridgepoint apartment complex had a significant leak from one of its irrigation systems, and for several weeks the water was flowing across Struthers Road.

He added that at the July board meeting he will present an analysis of June water use this year compared to June 2007 and June 2006. The rationing program was started in 2007.

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The Donala board will hold its next regular meeting on Wednesday, July 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the Donala office, 15850 Holbein Drive. Meetings are normally held at 1:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. The district’s Web site is at www.donalawater.org. 

Below: Board president Bob Eskridge expressed appreciation to former board member Joe Martin. Photo by John Heiser

Below: Eskridge also expressed appreciation to former board member Mark Veenendaal. Photo by John Heiser

At the Triview Metropolitan District Board of Directors meeting June 24, the board discussed the possibility of shifting administration of the district to the Town of Monument.

Board president Bob Eskridge and board members Steve Cox, Robert Fisher, Julie Glenn, and Steve Remington were present.

Cathy Green, Monument’s town manager, said consolidating the administration of the district with the town’s administration could "save a lot of duplication." She added, "This is not about taking revenue and spending it outside Triview."

District manager Ron Simpson noted that the district was originally set up to deal with the debt involved in constructing the infrastructure.

Pete Susemihl, attorney for the district, said the intent was always that once the debt was paid off the district would dissolve and the town would take over operation and maintenance. He stressed the importance of working out the details of who is going to do what. He said that once all that is resolved, the district board would focus on conducting its elections, developing an annual budget for the district, holding a budget hearing, and conducting annual audits of the district’s books. The town would handle all the administrative details. He said the cost savings have been estimated to be as high as $500,000 per year.

Glenn remarked that the savings could be used to pay off the debt sooner.

Fisher asked for details on the cost savings. Simpson noted that it might be difficult to quantify the additional costs to the town.

Green said most of the decision-making would be transferred to the town board of trustees.

Simpson added that a majority of the current town board members live in the district and so would be sensitive to district issues.

Fisher asked if there might be some middle ground so "we can walk before we try to run." He added, "The debt will be here for 25-30 years. We want to get service levels up. Are the cost savings worth pursuing?"

Remington said he is not opposed to the concept but he is skeptical and wants to see a cost/benefit analysis.

The meeting was continued to July 15, 5 p.m. at Monument Town Hall. Green said she will prepare answers to the questions posed by the district board and would ask town public works director Rich Landreth and treasurer Pam Smith to attend the meeting to answer questions.

At the end of the public meeting, the board went into executive session.

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This meeting was continued to Tuesday, July 15, 5 p.m. at Monument Town Hall, 166 Second Street in Monument. The purpose of that meeting is to continue discussing the possibility of shifting district administration to the town.

The Triview Metropolitan District Board of Directors normally meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The next regular meeting will be held July 22 at 5 p.m. in the district conference room, 174 Washington St. in downtown Monument. For information, phone 488-6868.

Jacobson resigns from Academy Water and Sanitation

Jerry Jacobson, operator for the Academy Water and Sanitation District for the past 11 years, has resigned to take a job with CH2MHill doing operations at the Air Force Academy.

The Academy board had a special meeting June 25 and went into executive session to discuss personnel issues. There were no announcements following the meeting.

Jacobson will continue to operate part-time until someone is hired. The district’s other employee, Don Deboodt, who also is part-time, will continue to serve the district in his current position.

Twenty new meters for the new meter reading system have arrived, and installation in homes will begin once the handheld reader arrives, according to Academy Water and Sanitation District Operator Jerry Jacobson. At the July 2 meeting, he said he will likely install them first in houses in outlying areas and in those with broken meters.

Jacobson reported that pump 2 in the lower wastewater lift station has been plugged up, and pump 1 had been plugged up for a while on the day of the meeting. "So there must be something in the wet well," he said. "The last time this happened, I pulled a dead rat out of there." After that, the problem was solved, he said, so he assumes that’s the problem. "If it’s something that’ll break up and clear, that’ll be fine. Other than that, I’ll have to try to poke around in there.&quo