The Board of the Round Mountain Water and SanitaÂtion District (RMWSD) held a regular meeting on July 17. Business Office Manager Peggy Quint reported that she had met with the Districtâs auditors at the end of June, and that an audit presentation would likely be on the agenda for the August meeting.
General Manager Dave Schneider gave the field operÂations report, saying that the crew had installed a water main to the Districtâs new shop, and have lines run for the wastewater treatment pilot project. He also reported that an excavator had hit a water main in town: âIt was repaired within three hours, and a tracer line was active so the town still had water.â
Giving his Managerâs report, Schneider said that he had taken care of the final paperwork needed to retire the new well meter project, and just needed Board approval in the form of resolutions to retire the project entirely. ConÂcerning the wastewater treatment plant, Schneider said he had put in a grant request to the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for de-sludging the lagoons. âDOLA accepted the request, which was for $251,000. We will use that as matching funds for the rest of the project.â The final designs are nearly ready, after discussions with the engineering firm, but âwe are still discussing product availability â I should have final design and bid docuÂments ready by the end of July.â
On the Grape Creek Reservoir project, Schneider reported that he was continuing with the existing engineers, but âright now the easement across Grape Creek is the major thing holding up the project.â
The easement negotiations were the next item of busiÂness. Schneider explained that the easement, across propÂerty owned by Darryl and Twila Geroux, was necessary to physically discharge water from the new reservoir back to Grape Creek. âI started discussions with Darryl,â SchneiÂder said, âafter talking with our lawyer about how to value an easement. The pipe will be buried, so it shouldnât be a problem to them except during construction, which will be after haying and calving season. An easement is typically valued at half the estimated value of the land involved, which is less than 1/3 of an acre. We offered them $10,000, even though the valuation was for about $1,000.â The GerÂouxs rejected that offer, asking for water taps and other free water access instead: âI said no, we can only offer cash, and if we canât come to an agreement, we can go into emiÂnent domain territory.â
Schneider said that the Gerouxs were willing to settle the matter for $20,000. âEminent domain would take six months to a year and cost between 15 and 30,000 dollars. We canât start the reservoir before getting this easement taken care of â itâs a high price, but Iâm for winning the war, not the battle, so letâs pay it.â A motion to accept the $20,000 counteroffer for the reservoir easement passed unanimously.
Next came Resolutions 2025-09 â 14, on the finalization of the well meter project, attesting that all the subcontractors had done all their work properly as of the end of 2024 and closing out the loan. Randy Wilhelm made the motion to accept all six resolutions, which passed unanimously.
The final item of business concerned a delinquent water bill at a rental property at 111 N. Adams in Westcliffe. âIt was owned by a lady who passed away and left it to her grandson,â Quint explained: âHe paid a few months of water bills, then left and didnât pay after that, owing us about $1,200. Another lady is renting the property and wanted to turn the water on, but we couldnât do it because of the delinquent bill. I told her, if you can get hold of the landlord to say she can pay the water bill for August instead of August rent, then we can turn water on if we can get payment by August 5.â
After discussion, the board voted on a motion approving the agreement. It carried 4 â 1, with Wilhelm voting nay.
â Elliot Jackson
