The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Taking the next step to get a handle on costs
By Mark Reaman
The Mt. Crested Butte Water and Sanitation district continues to take steps toward a major sewer line upgrade project that must be completed before any new large developments in the town can move forward. The district has determined that the main interceptor or trunk line running from the north boundary of town to the treatment plant by the Mt. Crested Butte welcome sign has a capacity issue during certain times of the year, especially in the spring when snow is melting, and that precludes adding major developments to the line.
The district board gave the go ahead at its last meeting to contract with utility engineering consultant HDR Inc., to come up with a plan that takes design and engineering options to 30% of a completed plan to expand the district’s main feeder line. That 30% plan is not to exceed $300,000.
Meanwhile the district met with local developers on February 5 and reiterated that they would have to largely finance the expansion upgrade upfront before being approved for new development. That follows the district’s stated goal to have “growth pay its own way.” The district proposal calls for a developer or group of developers to fund the cost of the line expansion and then get reimbursed over time by future developments that would tie into that line.
While the reaction from the development community was largely positive that a meeting was being held to discuss the situation, individual reactions ranged from frustration that the burden was being placed solely on developers, to some expressing that they felt the district was trying to “extort” developers to upgrade a service the district should be responsible for and wondered about the legality of the request to have developers pay the upfront costs of the line expansion.
Water and Sanitation district attorney Marcus Lock took issue with some of the concerns and accusations. “I don’t appreciate some of the tone. If there is no further development, there is no need for this expansion, period,” he said at the meeting. “But for new development, a new trunk line would not be necessary. We wouldn’t be proposing this if we didn’t think it was legal.”
The Water and San district allocated $550,000 last year for “investigative work” on the trunk line.
District manager Mike Fabbre said the field work included survey, geo-technical and closed-circuit TV work. The survey identified the exact location of the district lines along with other utilities; the geo-technical element showed what condition the surround dirt was at various line locations; while the TV identified lateral sewer lines feeding into the main trunk line. “That plays a big part in where a replacement line would go if we head in that direction since the lateral lines would be impacted,” he explained. “The investigation showed us things like where it could move and what constraints and issues we would have to deal with. Now we are moving into the design and engineering phase.”
Various issues will make the project expensive
Some of the two-mile long main trunk line is situated under Gothic Road and Fabbre said there are several “pinch points” in the town’s main business district. The line is buried as deep as 35-feet in some places which adds to the engineering challenges. According to a draft “Line Expansion Payment and Reimbursement Agreement,” the current line can handle a maximum peak flow from existing customers of approximately 590 gallons per minute and district engineers have stated that improvements to the trunk line will be designed to accommodate a buildout peak flow of approximately 1,720 gallons per minute.
When asked last summer for a ballpark figure of what the entire replacement project might be expected to cost, HDR project manager Jamie Eichenberger estimated it could be eight figures (more than $10 million), but Fabbre emphasized this week that a more accurate estimate will be determined with the 30% design and engineering phase study.
Developers were also given two draft documents from the district that outlined how a future partnership for the line upgrade could work. Along with the draft “Line Expansion Payment and Reimbursement Agreement,” a draft “Public Improvements Acceptance Agreement” basically indicated that the district wants developers to pay for the trunk line expansion and get reimbursed from other future developments as they come online for a period of time. The district would own and maintain the upgrades while overseeing the tap fees and reimbursements associated with the upgrade. District officials told the developers at their meeting they were open to other ideas on how to pay for and construct the upgrades.
All options on the table
Fabbre was clear the district is in an early analysis phase and no direction on how to upgrade the line has been determined. He mentioned the current line might have to be dug up and replaced, the district could use pipe bursting to reduce excavation impacts, or a parallel line could be constructed to be used in tandem with the current line. “All options are on the table at this point,” he said.
He said the district is looking at what is best for the entire community. “We are in the preliminary stage of evaluations. We are looking at all options and what is best for the community,” he said. “HDR’s contract to develop a plan taking us to 30% of design and engineering should give us a better idea of project costs. We will know a lot more at that stage and it allows us to sharpen our pencil and evaluate some options.”
Fabbre said he has heard from developers that the quicker a decision is made on how to proceed, the better. But he doesn’t expect any work could start until the summer of 2026 at the earliest. “We are hopeful to have this initial design and engineering completed this summer. From there we’ll go to 60% of a plan, then 90% and 100% construction documents before soliciting bids from contractors.”
Fabbre emphasized that some capacity still exists in the main trunk line but at certain times of the year it comes close to maxing out. The fact that there are several major development projects on the horizon all at once is what triggered the recent investigation. At least eight major projects are in the pipeline, including the Villages at Mt. Crested Butte and Upper Prospect. “Having this unprecedented number of developments wanting to come online at the same time is what creates this pinch point. We will be designing the interceptor line for full build-out of the community.”
As for the February 5 meeting, Fabbre described it as “productive” and said it was the start of communications and negotiations with the development community. He admitted the process will tackle hard questions and he said the district received a lot of questions and initial feedback on this preliminary direction. The development community has consistently said they would help contribute to the needed upgrades in some form, but they have argued that it is not fair for them to carry the entire cost of the district improvements.
“We are not trying to hold up development,” Fabbre told the developers at the meeting. “We are trying to work around a real-world problem that is in the ground.” He and Lock said multiple times at the meeting that the district would consider any feasible idea brought to them by the developers on how to address the situation.
Election coming up
Fabbre also said the district board of directors could be in flux. Four of the five board seats are up for election this spring and one of those is term-limited so there will be at least one seat change if not more. Anyone interested in running for the board can find out more information on how to get on the ballot by gong to the district website at www.mcbwsd.com/elections.
