by Brian Orr
WALSENBURG- Long after the summer season has passed, the Walsenburg City Council finally released numbers on how the City’s pool, Walsenburg Wild Waters, fared, and as expected, it went deep into the hole.
Parks and Recreation Chairman Bruce Quintana announced at Tuesday’s City Council that for 2009 that the pool was $93,819 down for the year. If you carry 2008 debts forward, the pool is now $120,000 in arrears.
This of course, is a large part of the City’s budget woes, and the Council is looking at creative ways to remedy the problem.
Under discussion is implementing a pilot program to keeping City Hall open just fours a week, and have employees work 10 hour days. Council members debated the pros and cons of such a move, noting there was very little hard data to prove if there would be substantial savings or not. Numbers ranging from $25,000 to $180, 000 were bandied about.
In the end, Councilman Larry Patrick moved that the matter be taken up in a committee meeting, so details can be hammered out, before implementing the work shift.
In other business, City Administrator Alan Hein informed the Council that the Martin Lake drawdown was ahead of schedule, and will now officially stop, with almost 16 feet of depth drained out. Work on the coffer dam surrounding the dam valve will begin soon.
Bids for the construction of the City’s wastewater treatment plant will be opened next week. Hein reported that dozens and dozens of contractors have shown interest in job, so he expects to have some very competitive bids given.
Finally, Police Chief Larry Baldonado told the Council that he plans on presenting a case to the District Attorney regarding the recent spate of arson attacks, and hope to be filing criminal charges soon.
