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| 10/31/2008 11:03:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Red Hill Forest subdivision, Fairplay moving forward in water deal
Subdivision will buy water from town
Fairplay is going ahead with its plans to sell water to the Red Hill Forest subdivision, two miles southeast of town, according to a press release issued by the town of Fairplay. However, skepticism about the plan has been voiced in both Red Hill Forest and Fairplay.
Fairplay Mayor Fred Boyce said in the press release that the cost to built the infrastructure to provide water to the subdivision will be paid by the subdivision, and town residents and businesses will not see an increase in the cost of water.
As part of the deal, Fairplay would not lose any of its water rights to Red Hill, the press release said.
"The Town WILL NOT be selling or otherwise transferring any of its water rights to Red Will," the release said. "Any agreement entered into would be an agreement to provide treated water only."
In addition, the town would not be spending any un-reimbursed expenses in the project, the release said.
John Newell, vice president of the Red Hill Forest Property Owners Association, said the project is still in its infancy, and it could be years away from completion.
He said the Red Hill Property Owners Association board had received a preliminary contract from the town of Fairplay and were looking over it. He said the board's attorneys would look over the contract and make suggestions about changes.
"Let the games begin from there," Newell said.
He said he hopes the project can be finished within five or six years, and he is currently working on how much it would cost to build the water pipe and infrastructure, although he said many details about the project were uncertain.
"We are just in the infant stages of this thing and are looking at all of our options," he said. "I personally think that this would be a win-win for Red Hill and Fairplay."
Pipeline
A water pipeline would be built from Fairplay to the Red Hill Forest subdivision, but the exact cost of the project is far from being determined with any certainty. Newell estimated that it could cost between $800,000 and $1.6 million to get the pipeline ready to transport water from Fairplay to Red Hill Forest.
It would run southwest from Fairplay to Red Hill Forest, and Newell estimated that the pipe would need to be at least 1.4 miles long.
Jeff Goble, Fairplay water superintendent, estimated the distance of the pipeline to be about two miles and said he thought the total construction cost could be in the millions of dollars by the time work was complete.
He said it usually costs between $75 and $90 per foot to lay pipeline. At that estimate, it would cost between $792,000 and $950,400 to lay down 10,560 feet of pipe.
But that cost wouldn't include building a pump station to get the water to Red Hill, Goble said.
The town of Fairplay would not pick up any of the construction cost, he said. "We're not going to pay for any of it."
Once the project was completed, Red Hill Forest would get its water the same way a house or buisiness in the town of Fairplay would get its water, Goble said.
The water pipeline would be connected to a pump house with a meter attatched to the line to measure how much water had been used. The town would read the meter and then send a bill to Red Hill Forest based on its water usage for that month.
Bills would not be sent to individual homeowners or property owners, Goble said.
After the water passed through the pump house, he said, it would be the responsibility of Red Hill Forest to maintain the line.
Goble said a site has not been determined for the Red Hill Forest pump house but it would probably be in the Fairplay town limits.
He said the subdivision would be treated like any other out-of-town water customer.
An example of an out-of-town user is the Park County Jail, Goble said.
According to the press release, the tap and water fees are doubled for out-of-town customers.
An in-town tap fee for a three-quarter-inch tap is $7,500, so Red Hill Forest would have to pay $15,000.
Goble said it would be up to Red Hill Forest to decide how to charge its property owners, but each homeowner wouldn't need his or her own tap.
"I don't know how they would work that out," he said.
According to the press release, the revenue collected from the Red Hill Forest subdivision could be put to use upgrading Fairplay's water system.
"The large increase in revenue to the Town's Water Enterprise will no doubt allow us to continue the mandatory upgrades to the water system with far less financial impact to the Townspeople," it said.
Red Hill Forest property owner Fred Wisely said he was uncertain the property owners in Red Hill Forest would be able to afford the cost of a monthly water bill from Fairplay, and the cost of running their own water system.
Red Hill Forest currently has a water treatment facility that pumps water from its well and treats it for radium before piping it to homes.
The water is expensive to treat and has made board members wonder if there is a less expensive way to get drinkable water from some other source.
Wisely said the system of buying water from Fairplay probably wouldn't be cheaper than what the subdivision is doing now because it would still be paying for the current water transportation system on top of the cost of getting water from Fairplay because of the cost of building the pipeline.
"Residents of Red Hill Forest are in no position to be paying costs above and beyond what they pay now for their water," Wisely said. "In my opinion, a Fairplay water option, including the $1 million to $2 million for building a pipeline to Fairplay would have to be proven to be less expensive than the cost now paid by the average Red Hill resident."
How thirsty is
Red Hill Forest
The Red Hill Forest subdivision currently needs about four or five acre-feet of water per year, Goble said.
One acre-foot of water is the equivalent to 325,000 gallons of water. According to those numbers, the subdivision would need between 1.3 million and 1.625 million gallons of water per year to meet its current demand.
Wisely said he was uncertain if Fairplay could keep up with demand of Fairplay residents and those in Red Hill if the weather dried up for a couple of years or if the number of residents in either place increased dramatically.
"The fact that you hold water rights does not guarantee that you will have available water," he said.
According to Goble, the town has plenty of water to meet the demand of Red Hill Forest, as well as Fairplay residents.
Goble said a 2006 10-year master plan took into consideration town growth, which included two large subdivisions that were planned.
"Both failed to build," he said.
When asked about the possibility of a drought year decreasing the amount of water available to the town, Goble said it was unlikely the town would be without enough water for everyone.
"2002 and 2003 were the worst years I've seen up here, and we made it pretty well," he said.
He said a water use restriction put into effect last summer was not because the town didn't have enough water. It was because the town couldn't get the water out of the well.
"The only reason we put the restriction on the last year was our capacity," he said. "It's not an issue any more because we have new wells."
He said the town could add new wells in years to come in the case of any demand increase, and there was a possibility that the town could treat surface water from the river and blend that with well water to provide greater capacity for its customers.
"There are a lot of avenues for water out there," he said.
Fairplay opposition
Fairplay resident Marie Chisholm said she is opposing any plan the town has to sell water to any entity outside the town limits, other than those it already does.
"If they even think of selling water to Red Hill Forest it will mean war," she said. "And I will start it."
She fears that if the town begins selling water to the subdivision, it won't be able to stop selling it if water becomes scarce.
"They have said they will not be selling water rights," she said. "That's doesn't make any difference. If they start selling water to any entity outside of Fairplay other than what they are already selling to... [that new entity] is going to expect it."
She said if a day comes when the town doesn't have enough water to sell to Red Hill Forest, the subdivision could sue, and it would ruin the town financially.
"I'm going to have to start informing the people through the paper and any other way, and if necessary, do a recall election," Chisholm said. "We can't allow this to happen.
Town seeks input
Boyce said in the press release that the town welcomes the input and opinions of town residents.
"If any resident or property owner wishes to voice his or her support, concerns, or rejection for this idea, they are invited to attend the Town board meetings which are held on the first and third Monday of each month at Town Hall," he said in the release.
"They are also welcome to call Jeff Goble, Water Superintendent, at 719-839-1236. He will be more than happy to address any questions or concerns," Boyce said.
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