by Bill Knowles
TRINIDAD — Last week the Trinidad City Council met in regular session. With two council members absent, the city council, approved with a 5-0 vote two actions that will move the development of La Puerta forward.
The first action was the approval of an agreement between the city and Kip Hampden, LLLP and La Puerta, LLC. It will allow for the sharing of engineering fees for infrastructure design within the La Puerta project.
REDI, set, go
The funding is part of a Rural Economic Development Initiative, or a REDI grant. REDI is a pool of money the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) sets aside to be used in programs “designed to help rural communities comprehensively diversify their local economy and create a more resilient Colorado” according to the DOLA website.
The grant will be used for the upgrade of a main trunk sewer line that will allow the Hilton Garden Inn to be developed within the La Puerta project area. “So we used that partnership in conjunction with upgrading the public utility to apply for the design, engineering, and construction documents and we were successful,” Tara Marshall, development services director, said. The city received the maximum award of $100,000 from DOLA.
Everything has a cost
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $215,000, which includes the design, engineering, and construction documents on two pieces.
The first piece is the sewer trunk line from Commercial Street to the Wastewater treatment plant. The replacement of the trunk line is something that has to be done according to city manager Greg Sund. It’s a clay line running at about 100% capacity serving a large majority of residents and businesses in Trinidad. The engineering for the project will be close enough to allow the city to apply for the grant in May.
The second piece is the design, engineering, and construction document of the remaining public utility mainlines in La Puerta: The gas, power, and water.
The cost to the city is approximately $145,000 of the $215,000 in total cost for the project with the remaining $70,000 in costs to be carried by the development group.
The agreement will set up a share-back on the funds from DOLA proportionately based on the total amount spent. Costs were excluded from the agreement because the City of Trinidad doesn’t base the share back from the bids but on the actual costs. The caveat, according to Marshall, is that the share-back would not exceed 50% of the grant funding.
The city has already budgeted the $145,000 for the project in the Capital Improvement Fund. Kip Hampton LLLC is paying for their engineer, and the City of Trinidad is paying for theirs.
Developing Americana
The second action was a resolution approving the submission of a grant application to DOLA seeking funding for the development of Americana Road. Americana Road begins at the Commercial Street entrance to La Puerta, and runs through the subdivision and then turns to the south and connects with Cedar Street at the back end of the development.
The development of the road could cost around $1 million and may be covered by a grant from DOLA. However, timing is a critical factor and city staff asked the council to pass the resolution approving the submission of a grant application without a final cost estimate on the project or how the three partners will handle the match. The city council approved the resolution with a 5-0 vote.
In other business
The city also approved several bids for roof replacement on three buildings owned by the city and a bid to replace the bathhouse at Monument Lake. The first bid will allow the roof on town hall, city hall annex, and the library to be replaced for the total cost of $136,209 from Nations Roof of Colorado. A second bid of $163,464 from Nations Roof of Colorado will replace the roof on the police station, while a third bid of $175,800 from Weathercraft Company of Colorado Springs will replace the roof on the recreation building. A final bid of $238,435 will purchase a precast concrete restroom and shower building for Monument Lake. All the bids were approved by city council with a 5-0 vote.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.
