On Monday, June 16, shortly after announcing that its wastewater system is experiencing critical situation, the Town of Pagosa Springs held the first of a series of listening sessions about the challenges of funding necessary repairs to its aging wastewater system, which is operated by the Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District (PSSGID).
The town’s notice to PSSGID users and the community Monday urges users to minimize stress on the system due to pump failure.
The town has titled the campaign to fix its troubled sewer system, “S.O.S. (Saving Our Sewers): Investing in the Future of our Wastewater System.”
Town Manager David Harris led the session, with Public Works Director Karl Johnson also on hand to answer questions about the sewer system.
A consensus emerged between the audience and town officials that the crux of the problem stems from a past decision to abandon the old downtown lagoon sewer treatment system and replace it with the current system, which pumps PSSGID’s wastewater 7 miles uphill to the Vista Wastewater Treatment Plant operated by the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD).
One audience member, who described himself as a mechanical engineer, suggested that “very poor decisions have been made,” regarding the decision and implementation of the current system, which uses a series of pump and lift stations to transport PSSGID’s wastewater.
Mayor Shari Pierce, who was also on hand at the session, said, “We agree that these were bad decisions, and thank you for pointing that out.”
A town-produced handout states that the PSSGID currently maintains about 17 miles of sewer pipes, with 325,000 gallons of sewage pumped per day, serving 1,500 households.
The average age of pipe in the system is 50 years old, with approximately one-third of the system either failing or needing critical repairs, the handout states.
These damaged and aging pipes have been described by Johnson and other town officials as “category 4 and 5” problems within the system.
According to the handout, $15 million is “needed now” to upgrade these pipes.
To make matters worse, Harris informed the audience that, “as of this afternoon, Pump Station #2 has failed, on top of a previous issue related to a recent lightning strike.”
An emergency notice was sent out to PSSGID customers stating that “this combination of failures is putting extreme pressure on the remaining system, which has already been working overtime while replacement parts arrive.”
The notice asks users to “limit the amount of water going down the drain in all forms” to minimize strain on the system, urging users to “only flush solid waste and minimize flushing liquid waste, take shorter showers and baths, and avoid using the sink, washing machine and dishwasher.”
It adds, “We urgently need community-wide support to minimize stress on the wastewater system until repairs can be made.”
Late Tuesday morning, July 17, Harris provided an update on the situation, explaining that town staff got one of the pumps at Pump Station #2 up and running and that the town rented a crane truck from Bayfield to move a pump from Pump Station #1 to Pump Station #2 to keep it operational.
Harris added the emergency recommendations to limit water going down the drains will remain in effect until further notice.
The failure of Pump Station #2 is just the latest in a long series of problems with the pump and lift station sewer system since it was implemented in 2016.
In 2023, the town hired Roaring Fork Engineering to conduct a comprehensive study of the system to help get a grasp of the magnitude of the problems.
Roaring Fork suggested that a merger between the PSSGID and PAWSD might be in the best long-term interest of the community and that a downtown treatment plant might be necessary.
A recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) between there PSSGID and PAWSD states, “There remains uncertainty as to the long-term viability of the [district’s] main pipeline and two pump stations.”
The PSSGID’s “collection system suffers from clogging, root intrusion … and pipe deterioration, resulting in significant intrusion and inflow due to the advanced age and deferred maintenance,” the MOU states.
To tackle the first phase of critical repairs, the town went out for revenue bonds to pay for about $4 million in repairs of the immediate category 4 and 5 problems with the system.
Category 4 and 5 repairs are currently underway.
However, the town still faces millions of dollars of repairs beyond the category 4 and 5 problems. It has been estimated by the town’s financial advisor Joey McLiney that the total proposed sewer projects in the coming years will amount to about $40 million and, if the town decided to add a new downtown sewer treatment plant, this number would double.
Harris explained at the session that the number is more like $80 million to $100 million to do all the repairs and for future infrastructure needs.
In 2025, the total revenue coming in from customer fees and taxes and grants equals only $1.8 million, with current monthly sewer fee rates standing at $71.25.
The PSSGID has the power to raise these fee rates, without an election, to pay for the repairs and future infrastructure needs, but McLiney and town officials have stated that the necessary rate increase would be untenable for many residents.
Harris explained the monthly fee would need to rise to about $155 to pay for the system’s needs, and that this would hit the 30 percent of the town’s population who live in “poverty” or on “fixed incomes” too hard to be a sustainable funding solution.
He added that the town is trying to figure out a way to “spread the peanut butter out” in a way that is reasonable and fair to all community members.
For several months, the Pagosa Springs Town Council has been considering a 1 percent increase to the town-only sales tax as a solution.
This would need to be passed by town residents in a town-only election to take effect, and the council hired Slate Communications in April to help guide its messaging for the possible sales tax election in November.
Harris noted that the sales tax increase would spread the tax burden out to visitors and town residents alike, as county and regional residents and tourists also shop, eat and use the facilities in the Town of Pagosa Springs.
He explained that the average resident would see about a $15 per-month increase in grocery and shopping costs, but McLiney later explained that this would be a “wash” for town residents because the sales tax increase would allow the PSSGID to actually lower rates by the same $15.
McLiney also suggested that the sales-tax increase is his favorite option because it would allow the PSSGID to “pay cash” for most of the sewer repairs, rather than going into debt, adding that after about three years of the tax being in place, the town would generate enough revenues to pay for more than half of the immediate repairs needed.
Some in the audience asked why the town would not extend the sales tax increase into the greater county, with businesses also being located outside of the town’s limits.
The audience expressed that they wanted the county residents to share the burden of fixing the town’s sewer system since county residents use town facilities and also experience the town being the central hub of the community for shopping, dining and congregating.
Harris explained that extending the sales tax increase into the county would require a countywide vote and that this could make it more difficult to pass the measure.
Pierce added that it would be “too short of a time period to educate that many people,” suggesting that extending it to a countywide vote would make it more difficult.
Archuleta County Commissioner Veronica Medina, who was in the audience, agreed that the county should do its part in helping the town out, suggesting that if the county increases its lodging tax that it could, perhaps, break off 1 percent to help the town’s sewer system.
She explained that she’d need at least one more commissioner to be on board with the idea, and that she’d bring it up at the next Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) meeting.
Others in the audience suggested that the town should also raise its lodging tax.
When Harris went around the room, the audience appeared to be in agreement that the 1 percent sales tax increase was the best solution to pay for the sewer system.
One audience member said, “It’s gonna take a village” to solve this problem, saying that the sales tax increase is the best available option.
The town held a second listening session on Tuesday, June 17, with a third listening session scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, in the Ross Aragon Community Center, located at 451 Hot Springs Blvd.
derek@pagosasun.com
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