In the 1991 American Comedy Film, What About Bob, Bill Murray plays Bob, a very ill, but delightful, patient of Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfus). In the picture, Dreyfus is very uptight and tries to take his family on vacation after the publication of his psychological book entitled Baby Steps. Bob shows up and the results are hilarious.
The current situation with the Beckwith Dam, like Bob’s problems in the movie, will be solved by baby steps. There may be more drama than humor but the process will be the same.
There are currently some water sanctions in place on the Beckwith Dam, and the possibility of additional sanctions exists if the district is not able to complete certain work for the State Water Commissioner.
The overall issue is that the dam at Lake Beckwith needs some repairs. District Manager James Eccher, the Board of Directors and a whole lot of other state and county people, including Mark Perry, who is our State Dam Inspector, are joining forces to take the baby steps necessary to make the improvements to the dam at Lake Beckwith, and to stop any more penalties that hurt everyone who turns on a tap in Colorado City.
In the interest of communication, here are some of those baby steps that have to take place.
Mike Graber, Engineer for RJH Consultants, developed three alternatives for addressing the dam safety compliance plan. They are as follows:
• Alternative 1 – repair the dam addressing all identified safety issues. No reservoir storage volume increase. Cost = $2.4 million
• Alternative 2 – repair the dam addressing all identified safety issues but widen the main embankment so that a future 10ft vertical dam raise could be easily accommodated. No reservoir storage volume increase. Cost = $3.1 million
• Alternative 3 – Raise the dam 10 vertical feet and address all identified safety issues. This Alternative results in an 645 Acrefeet increase in reservoir storage at an estimated Cost of $10.4 million
The board approved the second alternative at the last meeting. The next baby steps are to develop and submit an approved plan for raising the money we need. In addition, we need to submit all required reports, develop a Scope of Work with RJH Consultants to include their schedule. Email progress reports on work, along with reports about getting loans/grants.
In a call with a number of state and county officials, it was suggested we hire a Project Manager. They assured us it would go smoother and come out better. Pueblo County is working on a program in which they will supply a project manager, but the details haven’t been worked out and funding hasn’t been acquired. Much of what the state is requiring of us has to be done before Pueblo County will have their program in place. A quick question to Google indicates that a Project Manager makes between $62,000-$140,000. The metro district doesn’t have that. As a metro district, we are required by state law to keep certain debt to loan and cash flow ratios. Kind of like the ratios you have to have in place to buy a house. Our ratios are currently good. Paying someone, even the minimum at $62,000 and the benefits involved in the job, would create a ratio problem.
So, we have to get some of the work completed and planned before Pueblo County may, or may not, provide a Project Manager. See the dilemma?
Information regarding this project affects us all. Occasionally, people indicate that they don’t get communication from CCMD in regard to this important issue. Information is available in the Greenhorn Valley View, on the CCMD website, and everyone is welcome to attend the meetings on the second and last Tuesday of each month.