In a Sept. 30 letter, Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) legal counsel Marcus Lock, of Law of the Rockies, issued a cease-and-desist notice to the Weber family that it cease all activities on the Running Iron Ranch except reclamation of its gravel mine on the property.
The property is jointly owned by PAWSD and the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) and was purchased from members of the Weber family in 2008.
PAWSD and the SJWCD are currently engaged in litigation about if PAWSD can sell the property to relieve the debt the district holds on it despite the SJWCD’s objections.
In addition to demanding that the Webers cease their longstanding gravel mining at the site, Lock’s letter, which was reviewed and approved by SJWCD legal counsel Jeffrey Kane, also lays out several conditions and deadlines for the Webers in moving forward with reclamation of the gravel mine on the property and departing from it.
It indicates that the last lease extension that PAWSD and the SJWCD entered into with the Webers expired on Jan. 3, 2024, although this lease extension included a clause that, at the discretion of the owners, the Webers might continue to access to the property to complete reclamation obligations if they could not be completed during the period of the lease due to circumstances, like weather, beyond the Webers’ control.
This lease includes restrictions on the sale of gravel by the Webers to entities other than PAWSD and A and M Construction, a construction company for which Donald Andrew “Andy” Weber is the registered agent, according to the Colorado secretary of state.
PAWSD was purchasing gravel from the Webers for the construction of its Snowball water treatment plant expansion.
At its June 13, 2024, meeting, PAWSD approved a sand and gravel lease with the Webers that formalized the terms for the Webers selling gravel to PAWSD.
This lease was signed by the Webers, according to PAWSD staff, and expired at the end of 2024.
Among its terms, it forbade additional mining on the property, although it did allow the Webers to sell remaining material at the ranch not needed by the PAWSD project with a royalty being paid to PAWSD.
The PAWSD board approved a draft final lease extension at its Jan. 30 meeting and directed staff to submit it to the Webers for comments, but a final lease was never approved.
Lock’s letter followed a Sept. 29 special meeting of the PAWSD Board of Directors where the board discussed the conditions at the ranch and its difficulties with the Webers.
Following an executive session held partially to discuss issues at the ranch, PAWSD board chairman Gene Tautges explained that the board agreed to have its attorney draft a document to send to the Webers — a decision that resulted in the Sept. 30 letter.
PAWSD board member Bill Hudson asked, “Is it a good idea that our community knows that we’re struggling with getting information about what the Webers are doing, struggling with the fact that they did not sign a lease that was offered to them to continue mining on the property, that we’re struggling with the fact that their possessions are still on the property, struggling with the fact that at least one of our board members was told that the property belongs to the Webers? Is that something that the public ought to be knowing that we’re involved in these struggles with the former owners of the ranch that we have asked to do work for us and that are required to reclaim the gravel pits that they’ve created and that we may be engaging in legal activity to reassert our right to the property and to San Juan’s right to the property? Is that something we want to have in an open public discussion?”
Tautges commented that PAWSD should discuss these issues publicly to a “certain extent,” in his opinion.
He noted that entities engaged in mining are subject to regulation by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) and that they have to provide a bond for a mining project to ensure reclamation is completed.
Tautges stated that PAWSD District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey had sent the Webers a letter on May 9, 2024, outlining various tasks that needed to be completed at the ranch, many of which have not been done.
“In the interests of serving our customers, we certainly don’t like to always be litigating but there’s a certain point in time I think when litigation has to be considered because of the way certain parties are acting or whatever,” Tautges said.
He added that the vast majority of PAWSD customers trust that the board is doing the best it can and may be confused by excessively detailed information, although he indicated that he agreed with Hudson’s desire for transparency.
PAWSD board member Glenn Walsh responded, “I think certain things people understand. It doesn’t take a lot of study to understand that the Webers, in a very insider traded deal by Fred Weber Schmidt, were paid 250 percent the market value for that property by PAWSD customers. They were then given a 15-year, no-volume-limitation lease for $1 a year to mine the entire property and at the end of this, even though our customers have paid through the nose for it, the Webers are claiming to our board members that they own the property, they’re behaving towards board members in a very obnoxious and aggressive manner, and they are dropping all sort of verbals hints that after getting their $10.2 million price and their 15-year lease for $1 a year, they might just walk away and leave a scarred property for the PAWSD customers. That’s what they’re doing.”
Lock’s Sept. 30 letter includes several clarifications and conditions in addition to instructing the Webers to cease and desist activities not related to reclamation at the ranch, including mining, processing, selling and transporting gravel from the ranch.
It states that, by Oct. 3, the Webers must remove all equipment and personal property from the ranch not necessary for reclamation work.
It indicates that the Webers should continue to complete reclamation activities for the gravel mine on the property and that, by Oct. 15, the Webers should provide written confirmation of their intent to fulfill the reclamation obligations included in their previous lease with PAWSD and their state permit.
It also states that the Webers should provide a written schedule for the completion of the reclamation tasks by Oct. 15 and meet with PAWSD, SJWCD and DRMS representatives if available to discuss this schedule.
The letter states that the Webers must provide PAWSD and the SJWCD with “a detailed accounting of all material mined, processed, hauled, and sold from Running Iron Ranch from January 4, 2023, through October 15, 2025.”
It concludes that the districts reserve the right to revoke the right for the Webers to access the property for reclamation contained in the lease extension that ended on Jan. 3, 2024, and to take possession of the premises and any equipment or personal property on them under the terms of this lease extension.
Multiple attempts to reach the Webers for comment about the cease-and-desist letter and the circumstances at the Running Iron Ranch were unsuccessful.
josh@pagosasun.com
