Tribune TRI LAKES TRIBUNE
February 27, 2013
Tri-Lakes
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
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Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County • Volume 48, Issue 8
Sidewalk project one step closer Monument board of trustees approve agreement for surveying and design By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com
One teen catches air as he sleds down Toboggan Hill in his inner tube. The snow storm on Feb. 20 and 21 brought plenty of snow to the popular sledding spot in Woodmoor. Photo by Lisa Collacott
Snowstorm brings much needed moisture Creates difficult travelling conditions, forces many closures By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com A powerful winter storm made for difficult driving conditions all across the Pikes Peak region and dumped at least eight inches of snow in the Tri-Lakes area. The snow started in the Pacific Ocean and moved across the southwest bringing snow to Arizona before moving into Colorado. The snow started falling in the early evening on Feb. 20 at a rate of two inches per hour in some parts of the region. The snowstorm forced the closure of all school districts in the region and many delays. Even El Paso County offices were closed. As the storm headed out of the area it made its way east to the Great Plains and Mid-west creating blizzard conditions in some areas. In Wichita up to 11 inches of snow fell and Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago were preparing for several inches as well according to the Weather
SECOND STORM HITS REGION A second winter storm hit over the weekend creating blizzard conditions along the Palmer Divide and northern El Paso County. Some areas received up to a foot of snow and wind and blowing snow made for low visibility and icy roads on Sunday from Northgate Boulevard to Monument up to Palmer Lake and Black Forest. The conditions made driving treacherous. A semi-truck jackknifed on Monument Hill as it was travelling on northbound Interstate 25 and in a separate accident a pick-up truck slid off the road on northbound I-25 and hit a power pole. Colorado State Patrol said the driver was transported to Penrose-St. Francis Hospital with minor injuries. Bob Wilson, spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said at no time did the interstate have to be shut down. Channel. From Ohio to Arkansas ice storms were expected. Tom Magnuson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said that the storm was a really large system with a lot of moisture to work with. “Even in California and Arizona before it got here it brought in moisture from the Pa-
cific Ocean and once it reached New Mexico and southeastern Colorado it brought moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a pretty widespread system,” Magnuson said. Magnuson said the storm will alleviate some of the drought but there is still a long way to go. “I’m sure it’s going to help a little bit. We got some pretty good snow in the mountains and some along the I-25 corridor but the snow’s going to melt and the ground is going to dry up again,” Magnuson said. “We need several of these things to come through and help us out. We’re hoping for more of these (storms) in the next month.” The snowstorm called for snow plows to help clear snow packed roads all over the county, Monument and Palmer Lake. El Paso County had their snow plows out beginning at 3 p.m. They had 34 plows and 20 graders out on county roads. Monument public works director Tom Tharnish said all three plows were out and by Thursday morning all primary and secondary roads were cleared. “We did a pretty good job,” Tharnish said of clearing the roads. More snow was forecast for Friday and Sunday and for the middle of the week.
Water rate increase discussed during public hearing Discussion as to why increase is needed By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com The public hearing for the water rate increase for the town of Monument took place on Feb. 19 Tom Tharnish, public works director for the town of Monument, presented a proposed rate increase to the board of trustees in the fall stating that in order to make the water enterprise fund more self-sufficient a rate increase is needed. The town of Monument has not raised their water rates since POSTAL ADDRESS
1998. The proposed rate, if approved, would have residential and commercial customers paying $4.99 per thousand gallons up to 6,000 gallons, $5.99 per thousand gallons up to 12,000 gallons, $6.99 per thousand gallons up to 24,000 gallons and $7.99 per thousand gallons over 24,000 gallons. The rate increase does not include the service fee. Tharnish said the service fee will remain the same. “Hopefully the intent here is to not only make the water department self-sufficient but to encourage conservation and to promote conservation,” Tharnish said. “I expect that the first year is going to be a little bit of a shock to most people but it’s the
wave of the future.” Mayor Travis Easton asked Tharnish how much the water department was deficient on an annual basis and interim town manager Pam Smith answered saying that it depends on what was budgeted. She said in Tharnish’s report he mentioned that one of the wells is having problems and it will cost close to $50,000 to repair. It was not budgeted and she said that there is only a $30,000 contingency. “That’s why it’s important that we have to get some funds built up in this water fund to support this infrastructure,” Smith said. Rates continues on Page 5
One of the first steps in the downtown improvements sidewalk project was approved by the Monument board of trustees. The board approved a resolution for a standard project agreement with the Jacobs Engineering Group. Jacob’s Engineering will be responsible for the surveying and engineering design for the project. The surveying will determine right-of-way boundaries and the design for drainage improvements that must be done in order to install the curbs and gutters. Jacob’s Engineering Group has worked with the town before. “We feel confident and comfortable that they are going to do a good job. It sounds like it’s not a very difficult job, (just) put sidewalks in but there are all sorts of things. There’s drainage, there’s curb and gutter issues, there’s surveying issues. There are just a lot of things when you’re doing anything in the middle of existing development that you have to watch out for,” Tom Kassawara, director of development services for the town of Monument, said. The town of Monument received a grant to install the sidewalks through the Transportation Improvement Program that is given by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments. The amount of the grant was for $780,000. The town is required to put in 20 percent of matching funds. The total cost of the project is $975,000 which means the town’s matching fund will be $195,000. The funding is spread out over four years, 2013-2016, which means the town will match approximately $50,000 a year for the next four years. Kassawara said there are two phases for the project. The first phase is completing sidewalks for Second and Third Streets, Jefferson and Washington Streets and Front Street. The second phase will be sidwalks on Colo. 105. “We’re hoping to complete the design by the fall and actually go out to bid if we can in the fall and get the contract all lined up and then when weather breaks in the spring start construction,” Kassawara said.
The town of Monument will install and replace sidewalks in the downtown area over the next four years thanks to a grant. Many streets downtown do not have sidewalks like Jefferson Street, pictured. Photo by Lisa Collacott
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