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When the lights are on, everyone sees clearly. When they’re off, decisions get made in the dark — and trust fades. Millions Spent, but Little to See Every year, PAWSD manages $56 million in water and sewer services for our community.That’s nearly the same budget as the Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC), which operates our…
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What’s at Stake for Ratepayers PAWSD at a Crossroads PAWSD is hemorrhaging 40% of its treated water through aging pipes while ratepayers face a $64+ million infrastructure bill—and the district just lost its general manager, chief engineer, project manager, AND finance director all at once. Why Ratepayers Should Care The System in 90 seconds PAWSD…
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Affordable Housing Project Torpedoed By a narrow 3-2 vote, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) board rejected a request to waive water and sewer fees for the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (CDC), jeopardizing a multi-agency effort to build affordable workforce housing in Archuleta County. Without this waiver, the project cannot move forward.…
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Funding Continuation to be Discussed at a Special Meeting on Monday The monthly affordable housing surcharge is a hot-button issue for conservatives who don’t like the idea of subsidizing housing for police, firefighters, teachers, service workers, and others. Archuleta County is an expensive place to live with the average home price of $580,000 and monthly…
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Grab your wallet and eyeball the Lake Hatcher water level. Drought surcharges for residents (not businesses) are coming to your water bill. The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District sent out a confusing news release Tuesday describing the PAWSD Board of Directors’ declaration of a Stage 2 Drought. Why grab your wallet? By declaring a…
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Fair price? No business analysis. How much does ranch maintenance really cost?
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Did you know that PAWSD has a budget of $56 million? That’s more than the budgets of the town, county, and school board. Do you know how that sewer charge on your bill is calculated? Do you know where that money is going? The Snowball water treatment plant is being rebuilt at a cost of…
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It’s Your Money: Rate Hikes Have Just Started “The reason PAWSD currently has a healthy debt service coverage ratio is becausePAWSD has completed a series of substantial increases in its service fees and othercharges in recent years, and additional substantial increases will be required to maintain these debt service coverage ratios in the future. PAWSD…
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By Carl Young Communication with PAWSD can be difficult. Unlike the San Juan Water Conservancy (SJWC), Town of Pagosa Springs and the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners, ratepayers have no public way to directly contact PAWSD Board members. All communication runs through PAWSD staff. Unfortunately, this follows the PAWSD pattern of providing the minimum…
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Personally, I don’t understand the emotion around “The Reservoir.” Ask an opponent and you will trigger a red-faced, angry response. The emotional outburst overwhelms any argument otherwise. For me, the angry outbursts over the reservoir remind me of the controversy over our participation with La Plata County in a joint health department. Because of the…