The Rumbaugh Creek stone arch bridge, located behind the old waterworks storage tanks near Lewis and 1st streets in downtown Pagosa Springs, may not collapse after all — if the town accepts some grant money from the state.
The town received notice on Aug. 6 that its application for a grant from the State Historical Fund was successful. Now it needs to formally accept $166,605 so it can start the bidding process and hire someone to begin reconstructing and preserving the structure.
This item is on the consent agenda for today’s town council meeting. Being on the consent agenda means there is no plan to discuss or debate the issue; it’s a simple matter of accepting the award. Nevertheless, at the beginning of each meeting, Mayor Don Volger asks the councilors if there is anything on the consent agenda that should be removed and discussed further.
Due to the implications of the grant, this may be one of those situations.
Town council would need to accept the grant money to fix the bridge. The stone arch bridge is extremely rare. To just let it collapse would be like sticking one of those airmail stamps with the upside down airplane on an envelope and dropping it in a mailbox.
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