On May 5, the board of the Pagosa Springs Sanitation and General Improvement District (PSSGID), which also sits as the Pagosa Springs Town Council, suspended a current rule for service lines which previously made the property owner responsible for upgrade costs.
The policy change means that for the rest of 2026 the town will assume service line replacement costs in the town’s right of way if it’s part of the town’s ongoing project to repair category 4 and 5 problems with the pipes.
Sanitation Projects Administrator Karl Johnson explained, “It’s pretty much industry standard in the state of Colorado, which is the property owner owns the service line from the service tap all the way into their property, regardless of if it’s on private property or within the public right of way.”
Johnson further explained that PSSGID changed its policy in 2021 to be in line with this state standard.
An agenda document on the matter states that “only one or two metro districts in the state” have a shared ownership approach, and that “both Durango and Bayfield have rules stating the property owner is responsible for the sewer service line.”
However, Johnson explained that town staff has been having “the discussion” that, as the town goes through the system to fix its category 4 and 5 sewer pipe problems as part of a larger sewer system overhaul, maybe the town should “assume that cost” to get the service line to the “right of way line.”
The cost to the PSSGID could be anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000 per tap depending on location, the document states.
Johnson noted the larger costs on the scale come with having to rip up and replace concrete or asphalt sections when replacing service lines.
“It’s not as expensive in dirt alleyways,” he said, adding that he wanted to ask the board what it wants to do on this issue.
The board was given three options for a decision: leave the policy as it stands, with the property owner being responsible for service line replacement costs; change the policy, making the town responsible for the costs in category 5 situations; or change the policy, creating a shared responsibility between the town and property owners for the costs.
Board member Leonard Martinez stated that he is in favor of changing the policy to make the town responsible in some way, saying that “these kinds of costs are impossible for some of our residents.”
Board president Shari Pierce agreed, saying that it would be difficult to force property owners to replace the service lines, because “a lot of people can’t afford that.”
She added that she would like to add Category 4 problems with the sewer lines, rather than just Category 5s, as part of the town taking responsibility for the service line replacement.
Board member Mat deGraaf stated, “This is a unique place where we can inject some humanity into government” with the town helping people fix and replace these service lines in category 4 and 5 situations.
“Our goal is to repair the category 4s and 5s to repair the system for the overall well-being of the community and the system, and this is a place where we could accomplish that and do so with compassion and understanding ,and I’d like to move forward with that,” he said.
Board member Brooks Lindner added that he understood why a property owner would want to replace the service lines, but asked if they have to under the current rules.
Johnson responded, “If it’s a clay line and it’s functioning, no, they don’t have to.”
Lindner stated that he still agreed with his colleagues about the town stepping in to take responsibility for the lines.
Pierce added that since the town is undergoing the category 4 and 5 pipe replacement project this year, the town should step up and take responsibility for the service line replacement while crews are in there, and then they could address the issue again in 2027.
Johnson clarified that the town would only be responsible for the service line to the property line and that if the owner wanted to replace lines within their property, “to tie into our new lines, then that would be on them.”
Commenting on the voter-approved 1 percent sales tax increase to fund sewer system infrastructure improvements, Martinez noted “how unique it is what we got, and the part that is unique and really forward thinking is how rare it is to have this without a sunset.”
He added, “If we don’t address our category 4 and 5 problems, we don’t have a functional system.”
He noted that he’d like to use “a very small portion” of the new sales tax increase to help with this.
Pierce stated that she wanted the board to go with the option to take full responsibility for the lines in category 4 and 5 situations for the remainder of 2026, “and then between now and then we look into other options.”
This was put forward as a motion and was approved unanimously by the board.
derek@pagosasun.com
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