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Solar project stalls
City not giving up on water-plant plan
Herald Staff Writer
The problem was twofold, said City Manager Ron LeBlanc: The city withdrew an application for a $1.5 million grant after being given a low-priority ranking by the state. Also, a deal with La Plata Electric Association that would have allowed the city to generate and use excess solar power from the plant could not be negotiated.
The plan is to install a photovoltaic system to create electricity at the plant just east of the Hillcrest Golf Course, and use the excess power collected there to help power the city's sewage-treatment plant at Santa Rita Park.
For the plan to work, the city needs LPEA to make adjustments to the power grid.
The city has the resources to install the panels and power the water-treatment facility, said LeBlanc, but "we have 10 acres, so why not use as much of it as we can?"
LPEA Chief Executive Officer Greg Munro called the plan a "great idea" and one LPEA is open to, but he said the city seemed no longer interested based on its lack of communication.
"We've got some new ideas. Maybe we can help them. I know the city's been having a tough time making this work, financially. I can understand that," said Munro, who added he plans to contact LeBlanc in several weeks, after a scheduled vacation.
LeBlanc said he was surprised LPEA thought a deal was still on.
"We haven't heard a word from them," he said. "We'd like to have an incentive for local government because we think the taxpayers would benefit. It's not like we're a private, for-profit company."
Money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was handed down to state agencies to mete out to smaller jurisdictions after the bill passed in February. The state set aside $15 million for drinking-water projects.
Last week, the city withdrew the application after the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Water Quality Control Commission released the applicant rankings. Of 44 projects considered by the commission, Durango's bid for a photovoltaic system was ranked 44th in order of importance.
After the commission requested additional engineering plans that would have cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and gave the city a week to turn them in, LeBlanc said applying for the grant no longer was worth the city's time.
Ahead of Durango on the list were restoration and rehabilitation projects, mainly in rural communities. The top-ranked project was a plan to build a distribution system near Brighton that would service about 350 people. A $481,000 plan to install new filters and solar hot-water heating systems in Cortez was ranked 38th.
LeBlanc said it felt as if the city was being punished for having an effective water-treatment program; self-sustainability would only cap a solid program.
The city recently released results from an annual consumer confidence survey that showed, for the 31st year in a row, Durango's water is among the cleanest in the nation. The city's treatment plant draws from water that originates in the Weminuche Wilderness; it services about 26,000 consumers.
No chemical violations have ever been found in the city's water.
gandrews@durangoherald.com
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