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Metro district could expand
Douglas County will consider Oct. 8 allowing the Roxborough Park Metropolitan District to expand its service area to include Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Jefferson County.
By By: Sean Hadden
Douglas County will consider Oct. 8 allowing the Roxborough Park Metropolitan District to expand its service area to include Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Jefferson County into its service area.
Colorado law allows metropolitan districts to expand across county lines with county approval, said Douglas County senior planner Joe Fowler.
The district and the aerospace manufacturing company have been working on a plan for several years to close their existing treatment plants and send their wastewater to the Littleton-Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant, said Larry Moore, general manager of the district.
Should the county approve this plan, $10 million in bonds will be sold in fall 2003, Moore said. The money would be used to fund the construction of several lift stations and pipelines that would send wastewater from both plants to the Littleton treatment facility.
District residents approved the sale of the bonds in November 2002, Moore said.
The total cost of the project would be $16 million, he said. The district would contribute roughly $5 million in accumulated system development fees to the project, Moore said. Lockheed Martin would contribute $1 million.
The district annexed the astronautics company into its service area earlier this year, and the addition increases its assessed valuation from $66 million to nearly $99 million, he said.
If approved, the project would be complete in early 2005, Moore said.
The change would eliminate one of the four plant operators employed by the district, he said.
The district completed the annex without seeking county approval, Fowler said.
But after learning county approval was required because of expansion into Jefferson County, the district and the county agreed to an expedited service plan amendment, Moore said.
"They got a little ahead of themselves," Fowler said.
"Our interpretation was that we didn't need to amend our service plan," Moore said. "We agreed to disagree, and they [Douglas County] agreed to expedite the process. We're working together well now."
The plan originated because district managers believe the long-term savings of not having to operate a wastewater treatment plant outweigh its expansion, Moore said.
The existing plant does not have the capacity to treat all the wastewater that would be produced should all residential property in the district be developed, he said.
The district serves residents in Roxborough Park, Roxborough Village, and Chatfield Farms.
With the increased value of Lockheed Martin, customers' property taxes, which they pay to the district, will decrease by about a third, Moore said.
The change would also mean that treated water from both plants would no longer be discharged into the South Platte River and would, therefore, no longer end up in Chatfield Reservoir, Fowler and Moore said.
Each year, roughly 800 pounds of phosphorous would be eliminated from the reservoir, Moore said.
The Douglas County Planning Commission approved the plan Aug. 25 by a vote of 6-0.
Colorado law allows metropolitan districts to expand across county lines with county approval, said Douglas County senior planner Joe Fowler.
The district and the aerospace manufacturing company have been working on a plan for several years to close their existing treatment plants and send their wastewater to the Littleton-Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant, said Larry Moore, general manager of the district.
Should the county approve this plan, $10 million in bonds will be sold in fall 2003, Moore said. The money would be used to fund the construction of several lift stations and pipelines that would send wastewater from both plants to the Littleton treatment facility.
District residents approved the sale of the bonds in November 2002, Moore said.
The total cost of the project would be $16 million, he said. The district would contribute roughly $5 million in accumulated system development fees to the project, Moore said. Lockheed Martin would contribute $1 million.
The district annexed the astronautics company into its service area earlier this year, and the addition increases its assessed valuation from $66 million to nearly $99 million, he said.
If approved, the project would be complete in early 2005, Moore said.
The change would eliminate one of the four plant operators employed by the district, he said.
The district completed the annex without seeking county approval, Fowler said.
But after learning county approval was required because of expansion into Jefferson County, the district and the county agreed to an expedited service plan amendment, Moore said.
"They got a little ahead of themselves," Fowler said.
"Our interpretation was that we didn't need to amend our service plan," Moore said. "We agreed to disagree, and they [Douglas County] agreed to expedite the process. We're working together well now."
The plan originated because district managers believe the long-term savings of not having to operate a wastewater treatment plant outweigh its expansion, Moore said.
The existing plant does not have the capacity to treat all the wastewater that would be produced should all residential property in the district be developed, he said.
The district serves residents in Roxborough Park, Roxborough Village, and Chatfield Farms.
With the increased value of Lockheed Martin, customers' property taxes, which they pay to the district, will decrease by about a third, Moore said.
The change would also mean that treated water from both plants would no longer be discharged into the South Platte River and would, therefore, no longer end up in Chatfield Reservoir, Fowler and Moore said.
Each year, roughly 800 pounds of phosphorous would be eliminated from the reservoir, Moore said.
The Douglas County Planning Commission approved the plan Aug. 25 by a vote of 6-0.
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