DRAINAGE BOARD MEETING SUMMARY

June 3, 2010

The City of Colorado Springs/El Paso County Drainage Board held its regularly scheduled meeting

at 3:00 PM on June 3, 2010, in the City Council Chamber, City Hall, 107 North Nevada

Avenue.

MEMBERS PRESENT:     Brett Wyss, John Schwab, Ollie Watts, Emily Skalsky, Luanne Rubey, Jeff Johnson

MEMBERS ABSENT:        Stephanie Harrison

OTHERS PRESENT:         Tom Bonifas (City Engineering), Cheryl Callahan (City of Colorado Springs), Mike Cartmell (El Paso County), Mary Murray (City Finance), Tom Kerby (Tech Contractors)

Meeting called to order by Brett Wyss at 3:03 p.m.

Item 1:  Approval of the minutes from the April 1, 2010 Drainage Board Meeting 

Motion by Ollie Watts to approve the minutes

Motion was seconded by Brett Wyss

Motion passed unanimously 6-0

Stephanie Harrison was not in attendance.

Item 2:  Discussion of June 3, 2010 agenda

No Changes

Item 3:  Reimbursement Request for Meridian Road Improvement Project (County)

Mike Cartmell, El Paso County, presented this item.  Tech Contractors is requesting reimbursement on behalf of GTL Development in the amount of $124,560.50 for the construction of a box culvert at Stapleton and Meridian.  All documentation that is required based on the Drainage Criteria Manual has been submitted and County staff recommends approval for the full amount.  Mr. Cartmell acknowledged that there may be some questions on possible fee increases because this improvement was not on the structure list on the DBPS.  The County will be issuing a request for proposal in the upcoming weeks for the Falcon Basin restudy and the fee increase possibility will be addressed at that time.

John Schwab questioned the justification for reimbursement.  Mr. Cartmell stated that this is a major structure and on one of the tributaries within the Falcon Basin.  It was an existing structure as 4 36? CMPs and the reason for the replacement was due to the Meridian Road expansion.

Mr. Schwab asked what the criterion was for a major culvert structure.  Mr. Cartmell explained that this is a drainage structure and it was a judgment call based on Andre Brackin?s decision and Mr. Cartmell would have to further review the information to find the specific criteria.

Mr. Watts had concerns with the design, structure length and fee structure.  Tom Kerby with Tech Contractors explained that the original design was completed by URS as part of road widening for Meridian Road.  The reason for the replacement was that there were pipes in the way that were identified during the construction and the entire structure had to be replaced.  The structure was shown on the original DBPS as an existing structure that drains a detention pond located to the north west of the intersection. It was in the opinion of Tech Contractors, GTL, and Meridian Ranch that this was a major structure and it did not seem reasonable to be responsible for the entire cost of the drainage along with the widening of Meridian Road.  The widening project came after the Falcon DBPS. 

Emily Skalsky questioned the reasoning for the widening of the road.  Mr. Kerby explained that the road widening was a requirement as part of the Falcon area traffic plan.  Anyone that develops in the area is required to widen major roads so it was required to widen Meridian Road from Woodmen up to Stapleton.  Luanne Rubey asked if a DBPS was required at the time the road was to be expanded.  Mr. Kerby advised that the DBPS was completed several years ahead of this improvement and the Meridian project was not located within the Falcon DBPS and there was not a specific drainage report completed for this project because this was something that was identified during construction which then required replacing the whole structure.

Mr. Cartmell advised the Board that when the new DBPS is done, this reimbursement number will be included in the new fee structure calculations to address any increase that would normally occur.  There is no set timeframe on the new study just yet but when a timeline is available, the County will inform the Board.  A funding request was brought to the County Commissioners for the new study and Mr. Cartmell believes it is to be about $200,000.

Discussion:

John Schwab brought up questions that may need to be answered for future issues such as what size facility is considered substantial enough to be considered for a regional reimbursement facility.  Another concern Mr. Schwab shared was that if something is being added that is above and beyond what has been identified as a reimbursable facility in the DBPS, a fee structure adjustment needs to be attached and justified.  Tom Bonifas spoke for the City in stating that it is not a matter of the size of the facility or capacity but more of a fiscal issue as to whether the facility was anticipated in the basin fee structure of the DBPS.  Mr. Bonifas further explained that it is very common in the City to allow for reimbursement for items that were not initially included in the DBPS.  Even if this is approved, Mr. Bonifas stated that the Board will also want to make sure that an analysis is completed to figure out what the impact is to the basin fee structure to make adjustments if needed.

Motion made by Luanne Rubey to approve the request for reimbursement of $124,560.50 payable to GTL Development with the understanding that this reimbursement will be recalculated in the revised Falcon Basin restudies

Motion was seconded by Ollie Watts

Motion passed unanimously 6-0

Item 4:  Housekeeping

Tom Bonifas announced that Stephanie Harrison will be out for the next several meetings due to the birth of her child.

As asked by the Mayor, Mr. Bonifas handed out the 2009 Quality of Life Indicators for the Pikes Peak Region to the Chair and Vice-Chair.

Mike Cartmell updated the Board in regards to the Grading Appeals Board.  A resolution was approved by the City on May 25, 2010 and this will be on the Board of County Commissioners agenda sometime in June. 

No further business

Meeting adjourned at 3:32 p.m.