The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors heard updates from staff about progress on finalizing a fire flow waiver document with the Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) and on its hydrant inspection program at a May 29 special meeting.
This followed an extensive discussion at a May 22 meeting between the board and PFPD Chief Robert Bertram about the need for the fire district to provide documentation when it approves projects where flows of water for firefighting are lower than fire code standards to reduce PAWSD’s liability in the event of a fire.
At that meeting, the board and Bertram agreed to move forward with having staff and the two districts’ attorneys draft a letter providing such a waiver of fire flow requirements that could be given to PAWSD when projects are approved with flows that do not meet the code.
PAWSD District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey offered the update, explaining that PAWSD staff, Bertram and the legal counsels for both districts met earlier in the day on May 29 to discuss the waiver letters.
He explained that the PFPD is in charge of determining the fire flow requirements and that it needs to provide a letter taking responsibility for projects not meeting the fire code and removing PAWSD’s liability for these shortfalls.
Ramsey described the meeting as “fairly productive.”
PAWSD Programs Manager Renee Lewis added that the PFPD agreed that it does not currently have a procedure for waivers and is willing to present PAWSD with a draft waiver letter to address this deficiency soon.
She commented that she would “push it pretty hard” since PAWSD has projects currently in the approval process that require such waivers.
PAWSD board member Bill Hudson commented that it was “good to hear” that there was “positive discussion.”
Lewis commented that it was “very positive” and that the May 22 meeting was the first time that a PFPD fire chief had attended a PAWSD meeting that she could remember.
“I was very encouraged, and he was very cooperative today,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to working with them. I think this will be an improvement not only for us but also for them.”
Hydrant testing update
Ramsey also provided an update on PAWSD’s efforts to test fire hydrants in the area, explaining that, by that time, about 960 hydrants had been tested and inspected out of 1,125.
He estimated that the contractor PAWSD hired should be done with testing in the next two weeks.
Ramsey added that a relatively limited number of issues have been identified.
He stated that the project has identified seven hydrants with severe issues, fewer than 1 percent of the hydrants tested, although about 300 have minor repairs or maintenance that will need to be done on them.
