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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.0 ApplicationLEAVENWORTH & ASSOCIATES, P.C. LOYALE. LEAVENWORTH CYNTHIA C. TESTER DAVID E. LEAVENWORTH, JR. JOSLYN V. WOOD* *Admitted in Hawaii and Texas only DONALD H. HAMBURG Of Counsel Mr. David Holm, Director Water Quality Control Division 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South Denver, CO 80222-1530 R. Tambi Katieb Mr. Ray Merry Planning Department Eagle County 550 Broadway Eagle, CO 81631 Mr. Mark Bean, Director Garfield County Building and Planning Department 109 8th Street, Suite 303 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 ATTORNEYS AT LAW May 1, 1997 Re: Mid Valley Metropolitan District Gentlemen: 1011 GRAND AVENUE P.O. DRAWER 2030 GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO 81602 TELEPHONE: (970) 945-2261 FAX: (970) 945-7336 VIA FAX (303) 782-0390 VIA FAX (303) 328-7185 HAND DELIVERED We represent the Mid Valley Metropolitan District (MVMD). I have been asked by the Board of Directors of MVMD to contact each of you to solicit the input of the Colorado Department of Health & Environment, Eagle County, and Garfield County regarding the issue of expansion of the District that is presently before the Board for decision. Enclosed is a general location map of MVMD's boundaries, and other properties located west of the District. At the time of the inclusion of the Dakota property into the MVMD boundaries, the Board at the time indicated that as a matter of policy, it would not extend its boundaries further west. Although both Eagle and Garfield Counties agreed that the inclusion of the Dakota property (which is served by a lift station) into the MVMD boundaries was not A:\HOLM.4LT LEAVENWORTH & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Mr. David Holm Page 2 May 1, 1997 a material modification of the Service Plan requiring further Service Plan approval, both entities indicated that further expansions would be considered a material modification. The District recently received an Inclusion Petition from the owners of the Cerise property which consists of approximately 300 acres located north of Highway 82 and west of Dakota. The westerly boundary of the Cerise property is approximately one-half mile from County Road 100 (the Catherine Store Road). For MVMD to serve the Cerise property, a lift station would need to be constructed on the westerly boundary of the Cerise property to pump into the Dakota lift station for further delivery to the MVMD waste water treatment facility. Although the Board's initial inclination was to deny the Cerise inclusion, it has recently become apparent due to other circumstances that perhaps a larger issue is involved. It is our understanding that The Ranch at the Roaring Fork, which currently operates a waste water treatment facility, has filed a site application with the Department of Health to upgrade (although I do not believe expand) its existing facility. It is my further understanding that the Homeowners Association at The Ranch at the Roaring Fork, which operates this facility, has indicated it wonld not expand the plant to provide service to others in the region. Specifically, the St. Finbar property, located south of Highway 82, west of the Catherine Store Road, and southeast of the Ranch, is also proposing to develop and to construct a waste water treatment facility and will shortly be filing a site application for that purpose. The proposed St. Finbar plant will have the capability of becoming a regional plant. The District, being a management agency located within 3 miles of the boundary of the St. Finbar property, will be required to comment on the St. Finbar site application. I n discussions with the MVMD Board, the concept of regionalization was discussed at length. Specifically, the one alternative that is being explored by the Board of the District is to expand the District's boundaries to the west to include the St. Finbar and Ranch properties, serve the Cerise property initially by a lift station into the MVMD waste water facility, and own and operate the St. Finbar plant (which would be constructed at the developer's expense) as a "satellite" plant to serve the regional needs of that area. Ultimately, as infill growth occurs between the Cerise property and the St. Finbar property, the Dakota and Cerise lift stations could be removed and the Cerise property (and the Dakota and Blue Lake Filing 5 properties, all of which are on the Dakota lift station) could be reconnected to the regional facility located at St. Finbar. The alternative, of course, is to see a new district or management agency controlling a facility in the west Mid-valley area to compete in the long run with MVMD. The District will be filing a site application to add a third lagoon at its existing facility this winter with construction to occur in the spring or summer of 1998. The District needs this A:\HOLM.4LT LEAVENWORTH & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Mr. David Holm Page 3 May 1, 1997 additional capacity to serve the users and customers within its existing boundaries. At such time as the Cerise and Dakota lift stations are disconnected, additional capacity would be freed up for the Mid Valley District to serve the existing boundaries. Ultimately, in twenty to thirty years, the existing Mid Valley lagoons might even be abandoned and all service connected to the regional facility. Given the growth pressures in the Mid Valley area, it is likely that a major portion of the area between El Jebel and Carbondale will be developed ultimately. It may be better to avoid the need for ultimate consolidation of several districts in the future, such as occurred in the upper Eagle Valley, by providing for the expansion of the Mid Valley District at this time. On the other hand, the District would be reluctant to do so if it thought it would not be able to fully utilize, other the next twenty years, the existing waste water treatment facility's current and expansion capabilities. If it could not, the economics of the concept of regionalization do not make sense. As an aside, the District has been approached by the Crawford family in El Jebel, which is proposing additional development on its property and apparently does not wish to propose an expansion of its plant and may in the long run, even want to abandon their existing facility. Those discussions will be occurring over the next several months. In any event, the MVMD Board of Directors is actively soliciting input from Garfield and Eagle Counties and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The Board would like to know what each of you believe to be the most appropriate direction for sewer service in the Mid Valley area between El Jebel and Carbondale. The Board of Directors will be considering this issue at its meeting on Tuesday, May 20th, at 7:00 p.m. The exact time will be determined when the agenda is prepared for that meeting. The Board has asked me to invite each of you to either attend personally or provide whatever written comments you wish. It would probably be best for a representative of each entity to attend since I perceive that the meeting will end up as a "round table" discussion of the various issues involved in this letter. A:\HOLM.4LT LEAVENWORTH & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Mr. David Holm Page 4 May 1, 1997 In the meantime, if any of you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. Very truly yours, LEAVENWORTH & ASSOCIA~, P.C. _): L , LEL: Enclosures cc: Mid Valley Metropolitan District w/enc. Don DeFord, Esq. w/enc. Jim Fritz, Esq. w/enc. Paul Clarkson w/enc. Tom Bennett w/enc. Richard Bowman w/enc. Duane Watson w/enc. Louis Meyer, P.E. w/enc. Tom Zancanella, P.E. w/enc. Ron Liston w/enc. A:\HOLM.4LT . ' jll ~~ ' g~ ! MID VALLEY METROPOLITAN DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA IUESDAY. MAY 20. 1997. 7;00 P.M. 7:00 Call to Order 7:05 Kelly Mullane-Johnson -Administrator 7:15 Public Hearing on Past Due Accounts 7:25 Sean McCune Pre-Inclusion Agreement 7:45 Terrill Knight -Knight Planning Services 0031 DUROUX LN .. SUITE A. BASALT Review 4/15/97 Minutes Accounts Payable Old Copier Van Portfliet (Blue Lake) A. Cooper L. & S. Hall B. &J. Helm R.Kemp 179.96 138.83 169.67 171.17 Crawford Property and Plans 8:;15· Continuation on Mumbert-Cerise Petition for Inclusion "t.wuclu d.iSC.14.'\"IM. .._ "4c\.,_J.;'l.o..t1--. 9:20 Lee Leavenworth -Attorney Oak Grove W~l No. 4 Update MVDC Sewerline Extension Request 9:40 Louis Meyer -Engineer Sopris Meadows Irrigation Meters 9:55 Public Comment, Directors' Comments, and Any Other Matters That May Come Before the Board 10:00 Scott Leslie -Plant Operator 10: 15 Adjourn Generator Update Operator's Report Items on the agenda are approximate and intended as a guide for the District Board. Times are subject to change, as is the order of the agenda. For deadlines and infonnatioo required to schedule an item on the agenda, please contact the District Administrator at 927-4077. Office hours are Tuesdav through Friday, 9 a.m. -3 o.m. '"'· --~-------- ! ~ ·"}-<'.' I !