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Below: (L-R) Gordon Burt accompanies Chuck Pyle at the opening of the Monument Band Shell at Limbach Park on July 9. Photo by David Futey. 

The concert attracted a good turnout. In the background, a train’s horn competes with the music. Photo by Jim Kendrick.

Below: Limbach Park band shell ribbon-cutting July 9. Woody Woodworth, event organizer, is second from the right. Photo by David Futey.

Below: Chuck Pyle and Gordon Burt perform. The series concludes Aug. 6 with a performance by the bluegrass group Palmer Divide. Photo by David Futey.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony, numerous thanks for volunteer efforts, a renowned performer playing on stage, and a lawn full of concert-goers were the sights and sounds at the opening of the Monument Band Shell. The eight-year effort to build the band shell, constructed on the corner of Second and Front Streets in Limbach Park, finally ended on July 9. It was built with joint financing among local businesses and the town, along with considerable volunteer support.

Through cookie sales at a concert series over those eight years and by other means, the Historic Monument Merchants Association raised over $13,000, with another $50,000 contributed by the Town of Monument.

Another key component in the band shell’s design and construction that was highlighted throughout the opening ceremony was the significant volunteer contributions. Cathy Green, Monument town manager, noted the following as contributors:

Along with these companies and organizations, Woody Woodworth, owner of High Country Home & Garden, Tommie Plank, owner of Covered Treasures Bookstore, and other downtown merchants provided continual support to the effort.

Since the inception of the summer concerts, performers have played for free. However, in the tradition of traveling minstrel shows, a hat is passed around the audience for contributions to the performers. On this evening the "Zen Cowboy," Chuck Pyle, and Gordon Burt, accompanying Pyle on fiddle, were the recipients of the audience’s appreciation and christened the stage with a mix of Pyle’s songs. The Concerts in the Park Series in July also included Sweet Revenge, Bob Turner, and Jim Adam. On Wednesday, Aug. 6, bluegrass band Palmer Divide will perform from 7 to 9 p.m.

Expert details extensive use and production of toxic chemicals in natural gas production

In an informational meeting held on July 22 at the Pinecrest Events Center in Palmer Lake, with about 60 people present, Chris Amendsen, president of the Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition (FRERC), gave a brief update regarding the proposal by Dyad Petroleum to drill for natural gas west of the Tri-lakes region. The coalition had invited Dr. Theo Colborn, the internationally renowned and awarded expert on the effects of chemicals used and generated in the production of natural gas, to give a talk about the many issues with chemicals related to this process.

Amendsen noted that while the current proposal by Dyad was to drill two test wells, it had in fact leased 21,000 acres of the Pike National Forest. With a density of wells that could be reasonably seen to reach one per every 40 acres, the final tally could exceed 500 wells.

He presented a chart that illustrated a section of the geology in the local area. This showed the Denver/Arapahoe aquifer, from which local water districts draw their water, going down about 6,250 feet. Dyad wants to drill through this aquifer down to 8,000 feet. The two proposed drilling sites are on two 5-acre sites adjacent to Raspberry Mountain—almost immediately adjacent to the Red Rocks subdivision.

Amendsen pointed out that because drilling has effects below and above ground, the problem is not just a Tri-Lakes problem but also a Colorado Springs and Air Force Academy problem.

No decision on the drilling is expected before spring 2009, but the environmental assessment by the U.S. Forest Service could be released as early as January 2009. He noted that Dyad had been invited to attend the meeting but had again declined. Amendsen added that even with all the potential liabilities inherent in a drilling operation, Dyad, an eight-person company, would have to post only a $50,000 performance bond.

Bonnie Hildebrandt, a member of FRERC, then introduced the guest speaker. She noted that the primary goal of the presentation was to provide education on the issues of air and water pollution related to gas drilling operations. Colborn is an international expert on health issues related to the chemicals used in the gas drilling process. The information she has provided will form the cornerstone of FRERC’s response to the environmental assessment report. FRERC had concerns over the Forest Service’s and Dyad’s ability to maintain safe operations.

Colborn has spoken in several countries, written a book, "Our Stolen Future," and founded the organization called the Endocrine Disruption Exchange. She has received numerous accolades and international awards. She was an advisor to the EPA on endocrine disruption issues and was selected as one of Time magazine’s 2007 Global Environmental Heroes.

In a biography handed out at the meeting, Colborn was noted as an expert on the trans-generational effects of toxic chemicals in the womb on the developing endocrine, immune, metabolic and nervous systems. She is a professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Colborn said she would talk about "What you need to know about natural gas production." She then showed some pictures of gas drilling operations in Garfield County, where well heads had now reached a density of one per 35 acres. Some wells in production had a number of evaporation ponds and others had larger ponds for storing water that comes up with the gas. These ponds are filled by water trucks driven from yet other wells close by. In the evaporation ponds, powered misters are set up to force the water into the air. Now the permits have been changed in the area to increase the density to allow one well per 10 acres.

To illustrate the various stages in the construction of a well, Colborn talked about a well being drilled in Gunnison County, but the water from the site feeds into Garfield County. Two ponds are present at the first stages of drilling—one filled with the rock chips from the cutting head and the other with drilling mud used as a lubricant and blocking agent. The area where they were drilling was immediately adjacent to a creek. During the drilling operation, a methane leak developed and started to flow into the creek. This drilling is occurring on lands within the national forest where farms have become no longer profitable and the owners are selling out to energy companies.

While drilling, the men work 12 hours on 12 hours off, because drilling has to continue around the clock. The men are typically hired on contract, without benefits, starting at $28 an hour.

The next phase of the operation is called frac-ing (fracturing), though the industry is now trying to change this to "stimulation," Colborn said. There may be as many as 28 wells on a drilling pad site. Each of these wells will have up to six spurs out the bottom of the main drill pipe. Then, with explosives and high pressure injection of chemicals, these individual spurs are fractured out to as much as 2,000 feet. In the process the equipment on the surface uses vast quantities of diesel fuel for running the pumps and trucks associated with the operation. Each well may require around 20 "frac-ing tanks." While the tanks are supposed to be kept closed, it is common for them to be left open.

After the frac-ing fluids are forced down the well and left under pressure for a period, the pressure is released and the fluids then come back up the pipe and are stored in the tanks. The thousands of gallons of fluids involved in fracturing the well include surfactants, proppers to hold the bore open and various other chemicals. In addition, there is extensive use of very strong biocides. The reason for the biocides is to kill bacteria down the hole that might produce hydrogen sulfide. Other bacteria that are killed can corrode the drill pipes. The material is extremely toxic, and the industry now is turning to organic biocides.

The trucks that store the concentrated frac-ing chemicals are usually anonymous-looking large U-Haul-style trucks. Chemicals are kept in 42-gallon barrels inside the trucks with no indication on the outside that they contain toxic chemicals.

As diesel is burned in the frac-ing and well servicing, considerable levels of NOx (nitrogen oxides) are produced. The wells also generate quantities of volatile organic compounds that are vented off. In sunlight, these two sorts of compounds combine to produce ozone. In Pinedale, Wyo., they are reaching 122 parts per billion in the middle of winter. Colborn said the concentrations should be limited so that people are not exposed to more than 40 parts per billion, because the ozone molecules can get into the lungs and destroy cells. This damage is cumulative, and tests have shown that children exposed to these molecules in the air in the Los Angeles area now have reduced lung capacity by the time they reach their early 20s. It is also known to trigger asthma. She said increasing ozone concentrations causes reduced birth weights in newborns and rising incidences of asthma.

Because of the clean air in the Colorado area, monitoring of ozone has not been extensive. More recently, Pinedale, Aspen, and Denver are having ozone problems. In Denver, this is thought to be due to drilling north of the city.

Colborn then described the process of removing the dirty water from the gas. Each well head has a dehydrator and a flaring stack. The dehydrator consists of a tank where the gas is bubbled through ethylene glycol to absorb the water. The ethylene glycol then goes to another tank where it is heated to remove the water, and the condensate from that ends up in storage tanks. The other polluting gases that come up with the natural gas are flared off by burning on site. Because the process is apt to freeze in the winter, methanol is stored on site to heat the system.

Colborn noted that some new sites have a closed system, and water condensate is re-injected back into the well. She also noted the presence at each site of 500 hp diesel-driven fan and pump combinations that cool and pump the gas at about 500 pounds per square inch into the distribution pipes. These pumps can be built immediately adjacent to homes, and noise suppression equipment can muffle the sound.

Some of the coal bed methane wells that are nearer the surface give off tremendous amounts of fugitive methane coming directly out of the ground. This is a concern because methane is a much more powerful climate-changing gas than carbon dioxide.

In a further comment on the evaporation pits, Colborn said that she had found that most of these ponds were not covered with nets to protect animals and birds as they were supposed to be. She had been able to fly over some of the ponds hidden in the mountains near Grand Junction. These ponds were exceeding their allowable limits in the tonnage of volatile organic compounds dumped in them. In her opinion this was being exacerbated by wildcatters dumping into the ponds.

A new evaporation pond west of Grand Junction is now servicing one water truck per minute. The tendency is to run some of these ponds very close to overflowing. Another issue with the evaporation ponds has to do with the sticky residue that is left at the end of the process. Some companies have bought land close to the ponds and are now "discing" the residue into the surface soil.

Colborn then talked about her unique research into the types of chemicals used in frac-ing mixes. Information is not published nor required to be published on the materials that companies use. She has found one complete recipe for these compounds but has needed to analyze the contaminated water found in residential wells to determine what chemicals are used. People whose wells have been compromised have reported bizarre health effects. Many of these people have adrenal gland problems and other endocrine-related problems. In almost all cases, it has been impossible to prove that the illnesses are directly caused by the contamination.

Over the years, Colborn has accumulated information on chemical use on the Western Slope. Through the availability of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) she has identified 215 products containing 278 chemicals. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology intern helped her categorize the health effects of these chemicals. Of the chemicals used, 93 percent had the potential for causing adverse health effects. Of these, 81 percent have the potential of four to 14 health effects, and 42 percent are endocrine disruptors. These are more of a problem because they can have prenatal effects. She noted that many people now suffer from endocrine-related problems such as thyroid problems and diabetes. While most organizations cite the lack of cancer-causing problems with these chemicals, other health problems are much more prevalent.

In a study of old evaporation pits in New Mexico, most of the chemicals in the pits were on the Superfund list. This had the potential to make every pit a Superfund site.

Colborn then turned to the atmospheric effects of haze. Conifers were susceptible to the level of haze, and she believed that parts of the San Bernardino Forest in California were lost because of the ozone haze there.

We do not know every chemical used by the gas drilling industry, Colborn said, and we do not know the quantities used nor their concentration or what combinations are used. She said we do not know what is recovered and what is left in the evaporation pits. Nobody is keeping track of the vast quantities of water that drillers’ trucks take from the Colorado River and that might not be returned, she said.

Colborn said there is a need to implement baseline monitoring of well sites and then monitor them continuously while in production. She said there are chronic latent problems with the contamination of the ground, water, and air.

She noted that further information was available at her organization’s Web site: www.endocrinedisruption.org. 

Colborn then introduced Laura Amos, who lived in the gas drilling area of Garfield County and who was diagnosed with primary hyperaldosteronism, a very rare condition involving a tumor in the adrenal gland.

Amos said she had lived in a "gas patch" on a small ranch in rural Colorado. This area had a huge amount of natural gas below the surface, and initially it was not exploited. Then, Halliburton developed the technology for frac-ing, and Garfield County is now the site for more than 25,000 active gas wells, some only 150 feet from homes.

The process was initiated in 1998 by the arrival of a land manager representing the drilling company. A few months later, work began on her property and by 2003 she realized that she was now living in an industrial wasteland. The environment had been completely taken over, and there was constant traffic.

There were many nasty odors of diesel fuel natural gas products, and it smelled like a chemical lab every day, Amos said. She was awakened in the middle of the night with headaches and subjected to around-the-clock lights and profanity from the drilling and maintenance crews and their trucks.

Because of her health problems, she spent eight to 12 months doing research on natural gas production and became interested in the chemicals used. She found information on them was unavailable, and Congress had given the industry an exemption from the safe drinking water act. The watchdog organization of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission was made up mostly of oil and gas industry people.

Amos came across a memo written by Colborn noting the use in frac-ing of a chemical called 2 butoxyethanol that had a tendency to induce malignant and non-malignant adrenal gland tumors. While EnCana, the drilling company, initially denied the use of this compound, she found out that at a later frac-ing site it was indeed being used. EnCana then organized the delivery of commercial water.

She said that she then became more active in trying to solve the problem. While she and her husband were investigating outfitters, she found herself in an unlikely partnership with environmental organizations. Thinking that the federal government was on the side of the people, her research only led her to believe that the White House was inseparable from the energy industry. She became overwhelmed by the problem of taking on a multi-billion dollar industry. She has had little luck in finding lawyers to help her tackle the issues, and the media attention she has gained has upset workers in her area to the point where her family has been threatened.

The only positive turning point has come about through discussions with Colorado state officials. The Colorado Oil and Gas Commission has been restructured by the state Legislature to include non-industry participants, and there is some hope that the oil and gas laws will be rewritten.

Amos said that we need to continue drilling but the drilling should be done responsibly. She said that the industry tried to pay for public approval by donating money for local causes and buildings. People should do their own research on the oil and gas industry and get to know the regulations and attend the Gas Commission meetings.

Glenn Yoder, treasurer of FRERC, gave a short summary of the group’s funding to date. Donations totaled $15,440, with expenses of $2,157. A recent benefit concert raised $1,300. The organization estimates it would need close to $50,000 to prepare an adequate response to the environmental assessment. If the group gets halfway to the goal, it plans to start working on research for the response, he said.

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For more information, see www.frerc.org. 

About 60 parents gathered at Monument Hill Church on July 15 to hear an update on the construction and financing of the new Monument Academy school.

Dana Murphree, the owners’ representative, said that the building had been connected with Qwest and some of the painting had been completed. The elevator had been delivered but not yet installed. The contractor had started placing some of the ceiling and tiling and was working on the concrete curb and gutter outside. Work had begun on the stone facing on the east end of the gym.

Jay McKeown, board secretary, and Laura Hannon, treasurer, then gave an update on the schedule for construction and opening of the school as well as information on financing for the building. JE Dunn, the contractor in charge of construction, was now planning on having a temporary certificate of occupancy on Aug. 21 and working toward getting a permanent certificate of occupancy for the same date.

Members of the Academy School Board had met with JE Dunn to go over the financial status of the project. Although JE Dunn had informed people that they would run out of funds on July 25, they had reviewed their position and expected the funds to last through the end of July. This was significant, because July 23 was the date when the board expected to get approval of another bond issue to cover the extra costs.

The bond holders who had financed the original issue of bonds had asked for more information before they could decide on whether these should be subordinated bonds or parity bonds. If they are parity bonds, the holders of the newly issued bonds would have the same status as the original holders. Holders of subordinated bonds would have a lower status.

They planned to meet with the state board and bond underwriter on July 23. If approved, they might be able to get funds as early as September. If this happened, they would have one month to finance. If they could get a commitment letter from the bond issuers, they felt that they could get a bank loan to cover this.

On the positive side, they announced that the Monument Academy Foundation, which had earlier accepted a donation of 4.5 acres of land in the Highway 105 corridor, had come to an agreement with a buyer. The Academy board expected the foundation to donate the proceeds, expected to be a substantial sum of money, to the Academy funds.

Contingency plans: They then went on to discuss talks with School District 38 and contingency plans if the school is not ready to open for students on Sept. 8. Students need to be in school on Sept. 15 for a state mandated count on Oct. 1 that determines the head count for the year. If there were further delays, they might be able to petition the state Board of Education to delay the count date. As far as the teaching schedule, they believed they could accommodate later start dates.

Hannon said they were confident that they will meet the date, noting the significant steps to completing the interior of the building. At the last meeting they had noted that the mechanical aspect of construction was running about a week behind, but that was now on schedule. JE Dunn has also been having regular inspections of the work, so that they did not expect any surprises.

In the question-and-answer session at the end of the meeting, Murphree noted that access to Highway 105 was to be at a new signaled junction currently under construction at the west end of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints parking lot.

When asked about the missing upper walls of the gymnasium at the east end of the building, she said that the metal siding was expected to be installed during the next week.

Below: July 24: District 38 board members Jeff Cantlebary, Mark Pfoff, Gail Wilson, and Dee Dee Eaton discuss Monument Academy finances with Superintendent Ray Blanch and Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Wangeman. Photo by John Heiser.

The Lewis-Palmer District 38 School board held a special meeting July 24 to receive a briefing from Superintendent Ray Blanch on the latest information on the Monument Academy (MA) finances. During the course of the meeting, it was stated that MA intends to pursue a second bond issue to cover the shortfall in financing for the new building that is under construction on Highway 105 just east of Knollwood Drive. Including the costs associated with the second bond issue, the shortfall is now estimated to be $1.6 million, an increase from the $1.2 million shortfall reported in June.

Present for the meeting were school board president Dee Dee Eaton and board members Jeff Cantlebary, Mark Pfoff, and Gail Wilson. Board member John Mann participated by speakerphone.

At the beginning of the meeting, the district board members present unanimously approved two consent agenda items. The first item addressed personnel issues including appointment of licensed staff. Eaton said this item involved replacement of staff no longer with the district. She said the total number of full-time equivalent licensed staff would not increase as a result of approval of the item. The second consent agenda item was for expenditures over $25,000 requiring board approval.

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

Cantlebary, who said his children are students at MA, asked if it would be possible to delay the start of classes in the event the building is not ready on time. Blanch said the September 8 start of school date for MA could be delayed but not beyond October 1, the date when enrollment numbers are determined to calculate state funding. Changes in the start of school date would have to be discussed with the state.

Mann said that in deciding whether to vote to cancel the contract between the district and MA, he is looking at three factors:

Pfoff said that due to the failure of the MA board to keep the district informed about the financial difficulties, he has lost faith in the MA leadership. He said, "They need to prove to us that they are viable." He noted that classes in the district schools start August 14 and expressed concern that if completion of the MA building is delayed and the students have to be absorbed into the district schools, that will impact the whole district.

Earlier in the meeting, Pfoff described as "deceptive" an e-mail to MA stakeholders from Maribeth Muhonen, MA business manager, that stated the CECFA had approved funding to complete the building. At the end of the meeting, Muhonen explained that she had sent the message without board approval following the July 23 meeting with CECFA. She said that at the time she thought their decision to authorize MA to pursue funding meant the funding was approved.

Eaton said, "We’re not at the point of a vote. We’re just asking questions. We’re owed the information."

Cantlebary expressed disappointment with the "us" vs. "them" tone of the discussions and noted that there is a lot of frustration in the community with the lack of communication. He encouraged those with concerns to contact the school board members. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the board members are posted on the district’s web site. He said, "We need to make this all successful."

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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 August 21 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. 

the filing for the lawsuit against D-38 as PDF file. This is a 600 Kbyte file and will take about 4 minutes to download using a dial-up modem. Click here for help with PDF downloads. To view and print the file, you will need to download and install the free Acrobat Reader Program.

The article entitled "Lewis-Palmer District 38 School Board Meeting, June 19: Retired teachers concerned about change in retiree health benefits…" in the July 5 issue of Our Community News included comments by attorney Lisa Welch Stevens regarding changes to the health insurance program for retired district employees. On July 24, Stevens filed suit against the district on behalf of 8 retired employees claiming breach of contract and demanding reinstatement of the retirees’ insurance coverage and unspecified cash damages.

At a special Monument Academy School Board meeting on July 28, President Mike Wong stated that building contractor JE Dunn Construction is on schedule to complete construction of the new school building on Highway 105 and to obtain a certificate of occupancy by Aug. 21. A second bond issue of about $1.6 million will be completed the last week of August, and the proceeds will be used to pay off the remainder of the contract that Monument Academy Building Corp. has with JE Dunn that is not covered by the first bond issue.

Vice President Diana Helffenstein said there will be an "all parent" open house and orientation for all students in the new building on Sept. 5, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to be held on Sept. 6. Classes will begin on Sept. 8.

Also present at the meeting were Treasurer Laura Hannon, Director Will Cochran, Senior Administrator Jane Lundeen, and academy attorney Brad Miller. The absences of Secretary Jay McKeown and Director Bob Bowker were excused.

The board held this special meeting to provide information to its stakeholders regarding concerns about the academy’s finances and the construction schedule that were expressed by Lewis-Palmer School District staff and board members at a D-38 meeting on July 24. The D-38 meeting’s primary agenda was "Monument Academy budget discussion in regards to operations and capital construction," but Wong said academy board members were not allowed to speak in response to the concerns. (See the article on page 9 for details of the D-38 presentation made by Superintendent Ray Blanch at the July 24 special meeting.)

Treasurer Laura Hannon gave a detailed report on the current construction status of each part of the building. The academy is recycling as many items from its previous campus locations as possible. She noted that no air will be recycled by the building’s ventilation system; a constant supply of fresh air should minimize contamination and the spread of colds. (See the "Town Hall Presentation – 4/1/2008" link at www.monumentacademy.net for more information.)

A deceleration/right turn lane is being constructed for westbound Highway 105 traffic. The existing parking lot access on the west side of the adjacent church will also serve as an entrance to the school. A traffic signal will be built at this intersection. Vehicles entering the school property from this access will exit to the west to a new intersection on Knollwood Drive on the school’s new road, Village Ridge Point. There will be no westbound acceleration lane built on Highway 105 on the west side of the church driveway.

Wong stated that the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority (CECFA) had approved the academy’s second bond sale. CECFA approved the bond issue at a meeting with the board on July 23.

CECFA, which was created by the Colorado General Assembly, provides financing for colleges, universities, certain secondary schools, charter schools, and other educational institutions, as well as financings for cultural entities. Historically, tax-exempt rates have been 20 to 25 percent below taxable rates, which can translate into substantial interest savings over taxable financing. CECFA issues tax-exempt revenue bonds, notes, or other obligations, and loans the proceeds from the sale of these obligations. This capital may be used to acquire, construct, reconstruct, repair, alter, improve, extend, own, lease, or dispose of properties and to refinance outstanding obligations. Though CECFA is the state bond-issuing authority for a variety of governmental entities, payment of bond interest remains the sole responsibility of the academy’s board. (See www.cecfa.org for more information on policies, procedures, bond counsels, and investment bankers.)

Wong added that the bondholder for all the bonds initially issued for construction of the school building had given "verbal consent" to the bond underwriter to allow the bonds in the second issue to be "parity bonds," with the same status and priority as the first bond issue. This is good for the academy because the newer bonds will not have to be issued at the higher interest rate, which would have been required if the newer bonds had been subordinated to the first bonds. A verbal approval is necessary prior to drafting the final bond sale documents, including formal written consent to parity for the second bond issue. The bondholder for the first issue may also purchase some of the new bonds.

Hannon noted that the academy’s bond counsel, Kutak Rock, LLP, has performed 31 bond issues for charter schools, and the academy’s investment bank Kirkpatrick, Pettis Inc., has performed 29 bond issues for charter schools. "So the people we’re dealing with, it’s not their first time at the rodeo," Hannon said.

Bond agent Russell Caldwell, of the underwriting investment firm D.A. Davidson & Co., informed Wong, in a letter dated July 24, that Davidson "will sell and close the additional bonds authorized yesterday by CECFA." He added, "our normal process will close these bonds the last week of August."

Wong stated that

Wong then responded to a list of seven concerns recently expressed by D-38 officials:

1. Appropriation of funds: D-38 is concerned that Monument Academy, a public school, entered into a contract with JE Dunn without having appropriated the full contract cost, in violation of state law.

Wong’s response

The academy board formed the Monument Academy Building Corporation, which is a simple entity with one asset (the new building), one liability (the semiannual interest payments and fees to the bond trustee), and one income stream (the academy’s semiannual lease payments, which pay the semiannual interest payments and fees). The corporation is similar to those formed throughout Colorado for the construction of many other charter school buildings.

The corporation entered into the contract with JE Dunn and will own the building. The academy will lease the building from the corporation. The corporation has entered into a 30-year bond agreement with the bondholders, which the academy board cannot do.

The academy pays the lease from the corporation with "per pupil revenue" from the state, a steady income that is independent of which building classes are taught in. Not a single dollar of additional taxation will be created by the academy’s two bond issues, in contrast to the mill levy override elections that D-38 has initiated.

The bond trustee provides oversight of the corporation’s books and the academy’s lease payments. The academy board never sees a penny of the bond proceeds because the bond trustee handles all the financial transactions including payments to JE Dunn and the bondholders.

Miller stated that he had exchanged letters with the D-38 attorney, who had acknowledged to Miller that there have been no unlawful acts or laws broken by the academy board.

2. Funds to complete the school building: D-38 is concerned that the shortfall has grown from $1.2 million to $1.6 million.

Wong’s response

The academy receives about $3.8 million in per pupil revenue and will only have to make one semiannual interest payment during the 2008-09 school year. The first and last interest payment will be paid from reserves set aside from the bond sale proceeds by the bond trustee.

The sale of the new bonds will be completed and proceeds will be available by the last week in August. The final payment to JE Dunn from these proceeds will not be due until about Sept. 15.

The amount of the bond sale is about $1.6 million to cover administrative costs and reserves in addition to the additional $1.252 million needed to pay the remaining balance of the JE Dunn contract in mid-September.

CECFA issued an inducement resolution after the July 23 board meeting giving preliminary authorization for the second bond issue, which allows the bond agent to incur the expenses required to solicit purchases by potential bondholders. This is the major hurdle for the second bond issue.

CECFA will issue a financing resolution in August that formally authorizes the second bond issue as all the required legal bond documents for the corporation, bond agent, underwriter, bank, and bondholders are finalized.

The third step is for CECFA to issue the new bonds.

The term of the second bond issue was initially budgeted for 10 years at 7 percent interest. Now that they will be parity bonds, rather than subordinated bonds, the term for repayment has been extended to 30 years, lowering the additional semiannual interest payments. The interest rate will be determined at the time of sale, but is expected to be around 7 percent.

Holland added that this has been the academy’s hardest budget year due to the move. There will be no other debt than the bond interest payments. "The board is already putting that money away" for the second interest payment on the second bond issue.

The board was scheduled to meet with JE Dunn the next day, July 29, to review the status of these financing steps and the timeline leading to the final payment when JE Dunn issues its final invoice in mid-September.

Enrollment should go up about 10 percent, exclusive of the preschool, in the 2009-10 school year. The board expects enrollment to increase from 545.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) students this year to about 800 students, the capacity of the new building. These trends will increase total per pupil revenue and lower the percentage of the annual budget that has to be dedicated to the fixed bond interest payments.

The board is currently showing 600 students at this time for this academic year, which equals 558.5 FTE students for per pupil revenues. If D-38 only provides the academy with enough revenue for about 525 FTE students initially, the shortfall will be made up after the formal enrollment accounting date in October.

Wong added that the academy board is trying its best to give D-38 the most accurate enrollment data it can in a timely manner and keep communications open.

3. Scheduled completion date: D-38 is concerned that the contract only requires JE Dunn to complete construction by Oct. 22.

Wong’s response

He said he is 95 percent certain that the board would receive its certificate of occupancy for the building on Aug. 21. This will give the academy three weeks to get the equipment into the building and set up for classes to begin on Sept. 8.

4. TABOR Compliance: D-38 is concerned that the proposed ending fund balances for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years are near the 3 percent minimum Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) cash reserve requirement.

Wong’s response

The board expects to meet the TABOR cash reserve requirement for this year’s budget and in the coming academic year. "We would be the first to admit that it will be close in 2008-09," he said.

5. Enrollment differences: D-38 has stated that the current academy enrollment figures in the district’s student information system show 526 FTE students.

Wong’s response

The board had budgeted for 550 FTE students but expects the number to actually be about 560 FTE for 2008-09.

6. Disclosure to stakeholders: D-38 is concerned about a lack of communications since January with parents and with JE Dunn, and that JE Dunn may cease work.

Wong’s response

The board has held multiple open meetings with parents, faculty, and JE Dunn over the past couple of months, with a meeting nearly every week to keep them informed and counteract incorrect information in the media.

Wong stated, "It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when" the $1.25 million shortfall "became known." There were some other issues that were taking up the board’s attention and time early in 2008. The board "made attempts to address the problem, without making it public, on our own and we just could not make those things happen fast enough."

Miller added, "I would say that I think it was knowable that there was a certain number in one ledger and a different number in the contracts, but there wasn’t effectively a reading of ‘Oh, these are disparate and they don’t match and why don’t they?’ There was some underlying understanding of fund-raising deficits that were supposed to be part of this that they didn’t make. So they were aware of some of the money specifically. They weren’t aware of the extent of it. And I think that’s pretty fair that nobody drew the lines between the dots until a much later date."

7. Colorado Open Meeting Law notices: D-38 is concerned that the academy board has not always complied with the open meeting law, with executive sessions being held before posted time for the public meeting to begin.

Wong’s response

"We’ve always made our best efforts to comply," he said. "They have raised some of what I would call some technical issues that may be violations or may not be." He cited the board’s invitation to D-38’s regular board meeting on June 27. D-38 thought the academy’s participation in the meeting should have triggered the academy to post a notice about the meeting, separate from D-38’s posting.

"Honestly, it was not set up the way I thought it was going to be. I just thought we were going to be in the audience as members of the public. But they had set up a table for the Monument Academy board and four of us were there. But we didn’t plan on all of us going and saying a certain message or anything. And they cited that as a violation of the open meetings law because we didn’t post that meeting as a public meeting. But the reason we didn’t was we didn’t talk about it beforehand. We knew we were kind of all invited to it, but we didn’t know how many people were going to show. The open meetings law requires us to post public notice of any meeting of three or more board members, and so they have said that that’s a violation."

When an unidentified parent asked Wong if D-38 "set you up" at "a meeting where you weren’t allowed to speak," on July 24, Wong replied, "It felt like it."

Former board member Michelle Bell said from the audience, "How can they be disappointed? If there’s only one-way communication and they don’t allow another one’s view, we can accept responsibility for some things but we also don’t have to accept responsibility for other things. Communication is a two-way street." She added, "In your defense, they want to go ahead and have this meeting and beat you over the head for the things you have missed. You all have done all these things in five weeks. They haven’t given you credit where credit is due, and you should be very proud of what you’ve done."

In related business, Wong said that the landlord of the south campus building believes that the academy has to make more repairs to the building and has filed a lawsuit. The academy’s attorney is trying to negotiate a settlement and appears to be getting close to an agreement.

The board unanimously approved the 2008-09 student handbook.

The board went into executive session to receive legal advice to determine positions and strategies for negotiations on the construction contract and financing matters related to the new building as well as building and contract matters related to D-38.

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Updates on the new building’s construction status are available at the academy’s Web site, www.monumentacademy.net under the "New Building Update" link that can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the menu on the left side of the home page.

Academy board meetings are announced on the home page of the academy’s web site, or on the master calendar that can be found under the "Calendar" link on the home page.

The next board meeting will be held on Aug. 19; time and place had not been determined by OCN’s publication deadline.

Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility Manager Bill Burks told the board members of the Joint Use Committee (JUC) on July 9 that its environmental attorney, Tad Foster, was out of the country and would not be available to update the JUC on a rehearing of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission’s reclassification of the upper segment of Monument Creek from "use protected" status 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. The commission’s rehearing on the stream reclassification was scheduled for July 15 in Denver at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The Tri-Lakes facility operates as a separate public utility and is jointly owned, in equal one-third shares, by Monument Sanitation District, Palmer Lake Sanitation District, and Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District. Each district’s primary representative was present: President Dale Platt from Palmer Lake, Vice President Lowell Morgan from Monument, and Secretary-Treasurer Benny Nasser from Woodmoor.

After several years of being faced with a $1.5 million expansion to treat only copper in an effluent-dominated creek, the JUC may now face a $25 million plant expansion to meet the much tighter limits on copper, other metals, ammonia, and phosphates that may be imposed by the EPA’s more restrictive anti-degradation policy.

The facility’s operating costs would go up dramatically due to the state Health Department’s tightening restrictions under either stream classification. Foster was scheduled to appear at the next JUC meeting on Aug. 12 to present options for negotiating the numerous limits of the facility’s next five-year discharge permit for 2010-14.

The JUC learned of the reclassification of upper Monument Creek at the previous JUC meeting in June. This change, made over a year ago, was unknown to the three owning special districts until it was revealed in the Health Department’s response to an application by the Woodmoor district 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 "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 a majority of the time every year made Monument Creek "effluent dominated." This dominance has always resulted in a Colorado 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.

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 detect copper when it is less than 5 ppb. No copper can be detected 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 for the Tri-Lakes facility was $1.5 million for single-purpose equipment to remove additional dissolved copper 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 at maximum operating efficiencies without expensive modifications.

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 and high costs for disposal. (For additional technical details see www.ourcommunitynews.org/v8n7.htm#juc.)

The facility’s audit for 2007 was presented by CPA Pat Hall of Jaspers & Hall PC. Hall said his audit opinion was "unqualified"—or "clean"—the highest possible opinion. Hall made no adjustments or management comments to the JUC regarding the accounting policies, procedures, or controls implemented by Burks and consultant CPA Nolan Gookin. No budget amendment was required, despite some unexpected capital costs. After a full discussion of the lengthy document, the JUC members unanimously approved the audit.

In addition to monthly testing, the facility must test for a variety of elements and compounds every six months. A few of these test results must be below a specific upper limit for each test as well as a maximum average value. For the rest, a report of the tested value is all that is required. When a tested value falls below the lower concentration limit that a particular test can detect, the value is reported as a zero concentration. The detectable materials were:

The maximum allowable average is 24.6 ppb for copper and 23 ppm for inorganic nitrogen. There are no limits for the others under the current facility discharge permit, which expires in 2009.

In addition, the following materials could not be detected in the treated effluent discharged into Monument Creek: cyanide, arsenic, trivalent chromium, hexavalent chromium, silver, cadmium, lead, nickel, selenium, chorine, oil, and grease. Note: the facility uses ultraviolet light rather than chlorine for disinfection to kill any residual germs in the effluent just prior to discharge to the creek. There was no detectable toxicity toward standard samples of aquatic life.

Burks said, "The plant is really performing well right now."

Burks reported that engineering consultant RTW Inc., which designed and built the facility, has merged with Tetra Tech Inc. and will now operate under the name Tetra Tech RTW Inc. This firm is also the engineering consultant for the Palmer Lake and Woodmoor special districts.

Burks reported that the sand-blasting and recoating of all the metal parts in the facility’s clarifiers with coal tar epoxy and the replacement of all the diffuser filter socks on the air hoses in both aeration basins was proceeding on cost and on schedule. Burks said that the plant would now be able to operate at maximum efficiency with both aeration basins in continuous operation.

The meeting adjourned at 11 a.m.

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The next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Aug. 12 at the facility conference room, 16510 Mitchell Ave. Meetings are normally held on the second Tuesday of the month. Information: 481-4053.

Tad Foster, the environmental attorney for the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility, was unsuccessful on July 15 in seeking a reversal of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission’s decision in June, 2007 to remove it’s designation of Monument and Fountain Creek as "use protected." Foster, along with attorneys for Colorado Springs Utilities and the City of Pueblo, had asked for a re-hearing since there was not proper notice of the change of designation being part of the June meeting’s agenda. The Commissioners voted 7-2 to again make Monument Creek undesignated and subject to far more restrictive EPA and state "anti-degradation" standards.

As a result, the Tri-Lakes facility is likely to be subject to much tighter standards on all dissolved metals and compounds such as ammonia and phosphates in its next five-year discharge permit for 2010-2014. Recently, dissolved copper in the facility’s effluent has been a potential problem. The southern portion of the district’s collection system services new houses along Old Denver Highway, which have the highest concentrations of copper in the wastewater delivered to the facility. This higher concentration is believed to be caused by aggressive water leaching copper from the inside of drinking water pipes in the newer houses. The concentrations have recently averaged about 140 parts per billion (ppb), but there have been recent peaks over 200 ppb.

The district is partnering with the town of Monument to start treating the town’s drinking water with caustic soda, as Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District has done for many years, to reduce the amount of copper being leached from copper pipes. The concentration of dissolved copper in Woodmoor’s wastewater is roughly half that of the wastewater in the southern portion of Monument Sanitation District.

The new copper limits that may be imposed on the Tri-Lakes facility have been rumored to be 1.2-1.35 parts per billion (ppb) averaged over two years. The current facility permit limit for copper is an average of 8.7 ppb, but the state Water Quality Control Division has given a temporary waiver raising the limit to 24.8 ppb through the end of 2009.

In the past three months, with the facility operating at maximum efficiency, copper levels in the discharged treated wastewater have been about 7.8-8.3 ppb. This performance will not meet the limit of 8.0 ppb on average that the division had reported would be the new standard for 2010-2014 under the "use protected" designation of Monument Creek.

The districts that own the Tri-Lakes facility have spent about $400,000 over the past three years researching how to meet the projected 8.0 ppb copper standard, but now the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment may sharply tighten this restriction to an average of less than 2 ppb. The current EPA-approved testing methodology for effluent copper limits cannot detect a concentration less than 5 ppb.

Engineering consultant Mike Rothberg, of Tetra Tech RTW, has informed the facility that the cost of adding reverse osmosis tertiary treatment equipment to the facility to meet the new tighter federal anti-degradation standards will cost about $25 million. The current value of the Tri-Lakes facility is about $6 million. Wicklund said, "If the state requires the plant to treat effluent to the most restrictive limits under the new stream classification, we will be treating and discharging water to Monument Creek that is equal to the water quality of bottled water like Aquifina. We will be discharging purified water to the creek, water cleaner than what is delivered to our taps at home and cleaner than any water source in Colorado.

"We’ve already spent $400,000 on a moving target to conform to the state’s old stream standard. How much more does the state expect us to spend on an unknown target under an as yet undefined standard resulting from them changing the stream designation without public notice and then rejecting our input on the change of designation?"

Below: July 17: Ed DeLaney is sworn in by Chairperson Glenda Smith after being unanimously appointed to be a director of the Monument Sanitation District Board. Photo by Jim Kendrick

The board unanimously appointed Ed Delaney to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Director Bob Kuchek. Delaney, who is also chairman of the Monument Planning Commission, has served for many years on the district board in the past and volunteered to fill the vacant seat when he learned Kuchek was stepping down.

The board unanimously approved a resolution stating the district would spend no more money on trying to solve the Tri-Lakes facility’s copper problem until the state health department provides definitive information on what the limits for metals and other compounds will be in the next five-year permit. The consensus of the board was that the $400,000 spent to date on solving the copper problem may have been for naught.

District manager Mike Wicklund advised the board that it may have to raise monthly fees above the $20 residential rate that has been in effect for over 10 years. The board may also have to raise tap fees to help meet rising capital costs because material and labor costs for repairs and new construction have risen at a rate much higher than inflation.

The board asked Wicklund to prepare an analysis to show how much rates and fees may have to be increased to cover the construction and operating costs for the Tri-Lakes facility’s expansion.

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The next board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Aug. 21 at the district office building, 130 Second Street. Meetings are normally held the third Thursday of the month. Information: 481-4886.

At the July 16 meeting of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority (PPRWA), Alex Brown and Steve Hogan of Alex Brown Consulting reviewed some of the next steps needed to secure private funding for the 80-100 mile-long pipeline to bring water to the Tri-Lakes area from the lower Arkansas River.

In the first phase of the analysis, 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 Water and Sanitation District currently charges $2.75 per 1,000 gallons for a customer’s first 10,000 gallons per month.

Hogan said it is essential that the PPRWA decide what it wants to do before seeking private partners to fund it. He said the PPRWA representatives have to then go sell the project to prospective investors.

Phil Steininger, PPRWA president and general manager of the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District, asked about the role of the general public in the process.

Hogan said issues raised by critics of the project need to be addressed so the representatives can be persuasive in presenting the project.

Brown suggested that a public information program is an important part of the process.

Dana Duthie, general manager of the Donala district, said, "We have a project. It’s been defined. It certainly hasn’t been selected. We’re at a dead stop until we accept that this is the way we’re going. I think we’re a long way from that. We need to figure out where we’re going."

Gary Barber, PPRWA manager, said, "There has been a sense for awhile that [the pipeline project] is impossible. What I got out of [Brown’s] study was that it is possible but difficult."

Brown was paid $24,000 for the work they have done but not authorized to do any additional analysis or planning at present.

Following the public meeting, the PPRWA went into an executive session to discuss negotiations and to receive legal advice.

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The next regular meeting of the PPRWA will be held August 20 at 8:30 a.m. at Monument Town Hall, 166 Second Street in Monument.

The PPRWA’s Web site is www.pprwa.com. 

Don’t waste your water

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

1. Don’t use running water to thaw food.
2. Teach your children to turn the faucets off tightly after each use.
3. Soak your pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.
4. While fertilizers promote plant growth, they also increase water consumption. Apply the minimum amount of fertilizer needed.
5. Avoid installing ornamental water features and fountains that spray water into the air. Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation.
6. Remember to weed your lawn and garden regularly—and not just because it looks better. Weeds compete with other plants for nutrients, light, and water.
7. Buy a rain gauge to track how much rain or irrigation your yard receives. Check with your local water agency to see how much rain is needed to skip an irrigation cycle.
8. Install an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don’t have to let the water run while it heats up. This will also reduce heating costs for your household.
9. Insulate hot water pipes so you don’t have to run as much water to get hot water to the faucet.
10. Do one thing each day that will save water. Even if savings are small, every drop counts.

Following the executive session at the end of the Donala Water and Sanitation District Board of Directors meeting July 16, the board approved and signed a contract to purchase Mt. Massive Ranch, which is about 7 miles southwest of Leadville. The proposed purchase price is $4.6 million.

As of press time, the rancher had not yet signed the contract and negotiations were continuing on the terms of the deal. Dana Duthie, Donala’s general manager, noted that the rancher had approached the district not the other way around. The deal, if successful, would provide rights to about 225 acre-feet per year of surface water. An acre-foot is 326,851 gallons. According to Duthie, 225 acre-feet represents about 20 percent of the district’s yearly total water use. A water court ruling would be needed to convert the water rights from agricultural uses to district use. If as a result of the water court case, the district receives rights to more than 225 acre-feet, the district proposed to pay an additional $8,000 per acre-foot with an escalation clause if the water court case is not resolved within two years.

Board President Dennis Daugherty presided at the July 18 meeting. Board members Dick Durham, William George, Tim Murphy, and Dale Schendzielos were present.

Duthie distributed the following list of anticipated capital improvement projects:

Two additional items needed in the event the ranch purchase succeeds:

Duthie reported that most of the participants in the Water Returns project have begun and some have completed their projects. The participants have reported that they have many neighbors asking about their projects. The first request for reimbursement under the program has been received.

The irrigation rationing program runs May 26 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 presented an analysis of June water use this year compared to June 2007 and June 2006. The rationing program was started in 2007. He noted that June 2008 was hot and dry, similar to June 2006, with only 0.15 inches of rain compared to 0.47 inches of rain in June 2007. Overall, the district with 5 more customers in 2008 than in 2007 used 13 percent more water than in 2007. With 45 more customers in 2008 than in 2006, the district used 1 percent more water than in 2006.

Comparing the 21 customers who have Evapo-Transporation (ET) controllers that use a variety of data to optimize irrigation of Kentucky Bluegrass, 9 used less water in June 2008 than they used in June 2006, 12 used more.

During June 2008, 262 residential customers (12 percent) used more than 40,000 gallons. 20 customers used more than 70,000 gallons. One customer used over 130,000 and received a $900 water bill.

Duthie said most customers are following the rationing program rules; however, the district has issued 55 warning letters, 7 second warning letters, and 2 fines.