City seeks contract with former public works chief to consult on water issues
by Mark Craddock
WALSENBURG — The City of Walsenburg wants to know what former water and sewer department chief David Harriman knows about the innermost workings of the city’s Byzantine and failing water system – and they’re willing to pay for the information.
On Tuesday, the city council directed staff to respond to a contract proposal by Harriman to serve as a consultant to the city regarding water, sewer and extraterritorial water.
The tentative contract would run 24 months, with a review every six months. Harriman’s proposal called for a fee of $36.50 per hour, with 40 hours per week for the first 120 days, and a negotiated decrease in those hours after 120 days, as needed.
The council’s proposal calls for a fee of $32.50 per hour, with a maximum of 40 hours per week for 120 days, and negotiated hours beyond that.
City Attorney Catharine Vera took Harriman’s proposal and drafted a formal contract based on it. It was Vera’s draft, with changes suggested by council, which council directed to be presented to Harriman. That motion was ultimately approved on a 4-3 vote, with Mayor Gary Vezzani, and councilmembers Fred Eccher and Jacque Sikes voting no.
The dissenters had argued to approve and sign the contract as proposed, that night, rather than hold up the contract in negotiation for an additional two weeks or more.
Harriman’s primary remit would be to prepare a series of standard operating procedures (SOPs), for raw water transmission lines; water transmission lines (including valve locations, shutoff procedures, and isolating zones; the sanitary sewer system; water and sewer service work orders; fire hydrant requirements; and use and safety of all heavy equipment.
He would also be charged with training water and sewer personnel, making recommendations to council, and “communicate/consult with mayor, city administrator, water engineers and water attorney regarding past, current and present matters.”
Harriman was the longest-serving city employee when he resigned his post as director of public works in August of 2020, citing “conflicting views with some members of the City Council.”
As a result, he does possess a deep legacy knowledge of the city’s water and sewer infrastructure, much of which has been lost over the past three years through turnover in the water and sewer ranks.
Meanwhile, the past year has seen myriad crises, especially in the city’s aging water infrastructure.
The city imposed water restrictions about a year ago when major leaks in the city’s two raw water lines between Daigre Reservoir and City Lake saw thousands of acre feet of city water disappearing into the ground.
Some experts at the time speculated that the leaks and blow-outs were the result of cavitation in the pipes precipitated by releasing too much water too quickly.
Subsequently, the city has been engaged in a cat-and-mouse game of trying to identify and mitigate the myriad leaks, with little information to go on.
The city currently relies on a 14-inch cast-iron pipeline built in the 1940s to deliver water to City Lake. City officials are considering proposals to shore up that pipeline with a plastic liner.
Before her termination last month, former City Administrator Gaye Davis said the second pipeline, constructed of thinner 12-inch steel gas pipe in the early 1960s, is “leaking like a sieve,” and remains offline.
In late December of this year, Daigre Reservoir over-topped its spillway, creating flooding in the Wahatoya Valley Estates subdivision below the dam for the second time in as many years. At the time, Davis blamed vandalism to the city’s gate on the Cucharas River, as well as to a series of valves between Daigre and Wahatoya lakes, for the situation.
And water main breaks continue to plague the city’s treated-water infrastructure, some of which dates to the turn of the century.
Vezzani made his case for expediting the Harriman contract.
“I think the bottom line is this guy is willing to help us out and get this going,” he said. “Everybody in the state tells me this is the best way to get it done, the quickest way, the easiest way.
“If we want to start all over and everybody has to learn the hard way, it is going to be a struggle and it’s going to take a long time.”
In Other Business
• The council unanimously passed a motion to pay Colander an additional $100 per day, retroactively to July 19, when he assumed the duties of City Administrator in the wake of Davis’ July 18 firing.
• The council unanimously passed a motion directing Deputy City Clerk Richard Colander to begin the process of hiring one technician each in the water and sewer departments.
• The council unanimously approved a donation of $75 from the city’s youth fund to the Museum of Friends for its upcoming Smithsonian event, “Crossroads: Change in Rural America.” Museum representatives had sought $1,000 to help defray the costs of several school and youth events to be held in conjunction with the exhibition. Sikes announced she would donate one month of her city council stipend to the cause.
• The council unanimously passed a motion directing Colander to set up a time and date for a succession of 15-minute meetings with staff and council members, to allow citizens to voice their complaints regarding the city’s utilities billing. The move, suggested by council member Jacque Sikes, would involve no more than two council members at a time, to avoid potential open meetings law violations.
• The council unanimously passed a motion allowing the city’s Urban Renewal Authority to rejoin Downtown Colorado Inc. at the rate of $850 per year, and to upgrade to the group’s VIP tier for an additional $250.
Downtown Colorado is a nonprofit organization that supports downtowns, business improvement districts, downtown development authorities and urban renewal authorities.
• The council unanimously passed a motion to add Deputy City Clerk Richard Colander as a signatory on the city’s checking account and to remove ousted City Administrator Gaye Davis.
• The council unanimously passed its consent agenda, which contained approval of a marijuana cultivation license renewal application, and a modification of premises application from All Pro Farms, 1500 U.S. Hwy 85/87, Walsenburg.
