transparent, adjective.
1. free from pretense or deceit.
2. easily detected or seen through.
3. readily understood.
4. characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices.
It’s pretty hard for the citizens of Pagosa Springs to understand — let alone, influence — political decisions made by our governments when our elected leaders keep us in the dark, or when they hold meetings behind closed doors. And often those decisions — made in the dark, without an opportunity for public input or scrutiny — turn into big, expensive messes.
The problem might be even worse when the elected government officials are themselves kept in the dark.
A total of three people were taking notes at the Tuesday, November 3 Town Council meeting. Town Clerk April Hessman was responsible for the official minutes, to be approved later. SUN reporter Ed Fincher was recording the meeting for a future article in the weekly newspaper. And I was recording the meeting as well, with an aim to share any interesting discussions with our Daily Post readers, at some point.
The first event of the evening consisted of a meeting of the Pagosa Springs Sanitation and General Improvement District (PSSGID) board. That government board, conveniently enough, consists of the exact same people who serve on the Pagosa Springs Town Council: Mayor Don Volger, and members Kathie Lattin, Tracy Bunning, John Egan, David Schanzenbaker, Clint Alley and CK Patel.
The first order of business was passage of a “consent agenda.” Typically, a “consent agenda” consists of perfunctory, incidental decisions that a government board must make in the course of official business. On Tuesday, November 3, the PSSGID board casually passed its consent agenda unanimously. Without giving it much thought, you might say.
Normally, however, a “consent agenda” does not include a unplanned $600,000 expenditure. But tucked into the November 3 consent agenda was a resolution that committed the District to just such a sizable expenditure.
Ed Fincher published his coverage of the event in the November 5 edition of the SUN, with the article percussively titled:
“Perpetual problems plague pipeline project”
Indeed, the joint sewer pipeline project, approved almost four years ago by the PSSGID board and the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) board — when a rather different set of elected citizens were serving on both those boards — has rolled out as a series of unexpected messes. Secret meetings. Cost overruns. Improper easement agreements. Design changes. Staff turnover.
The seven-mile-long project, which is supposed to pump the sewage generated by Town (PSSGID) customers uphill through a pressurized pipeline to the PAWSD Vista Wastewater Treatment plant, is still months away from being fully operational.
And now: this mess. From Resolution No. 2015-04, tucked away inside the November 3 consent agenda:
“WHEREAS, additional grant funding has potentially become available to offset the higher than anticipated construction costs of the pumping conveyance project; and
“WHEREAS, it has been determined that additional wet well storage and other capital projects are required to further protect the safety and well-being of the PSSGID customers … “The Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District supports and authorizes the submittal of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Small Communities grant applications in the amount of $432,264.00 for the increased funding to the pumping conveyance project and collection system improvements. The Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District will commit up to $185,256.00 in reserve funding for this grant application as matching funds.”
That appears to add up to about $617,520 in additional expenses?
A few quotes from Mr. Fincher’s SUN article:
Items are only supposed to be placed on the consent agenda if they are merely routine business items that require no debate or discussion. In fact, the resolution itself wasn’t even included in the board’s packet of documents that is distributed online before the meeting, and SUN staff had to ask Town Clerk April Hessman for a copy of the resolution the next day…
Once the board voted to approve the consent agenda at Tuesday night’s meeting, Tautges began his report by asking if he could go back to explain the resolution.
“In my opinion, we have a great need (for the grant money),” Tautges suggested, “and it’s on the brand-new project, at Pump Station One.”
Tautges explained that the CDPHE conducted an inspection of the PSSGID facility in April and agreed that there is a need for more storage. This issue was brought up several years ago, according to Tautges, but was dismissed at that time.
Tautges clarified, “By storage, I mean all the wastewater from town goes into a vault. If that vault’s not big enough and somebody breaks the line 5 miles from here … the size of that vault down there is what determines how long before our first customer gets backed up.”
“I’m sorry,” board member Kathy Lattin responded. “I wasn’t looking at this agenda and did not realize right off the bat that this item was on the consent agenda, because I’d like some discussion on this.”
Mayor Don Volger quickly asserted that the resolution had already been approved as part of the consent agenda, so it was too late to reverse the vote, but she could still ask questions.
“Why are we already having to update Pump Station One when we are just now getting it put in?” Lattin pressed.
Good question. Why are the taxpayers now being asked to fork out another $600,000? Is there no end to this mess?
Almost four years ago now, a different PAWSD board and a different PSSGID board met in an open public meeting to rubber stamp a secret agreement, made in the dark without any public input or scrutiny.
At a January 3, 2012 meeting between the elected boards of PAWSD and PSSGID, local activist John Bozek stood up to address the question of transparency in government — specifically, the type of transparency that allows a concerned public citizen to view documents, and offer comments, prior to approval of those documents by his elected officials.
The document, in this particular case, was a proposed Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Town of Pagosa Springs and PAWSD, to construct a sewer pipeline. Mr. Bozek, standing in the audience, was pointing to the water district board and staff, seated around the table with the Town Council and Town staff.
Everyone at the table was holding a copy of a proposed sewer pipeline IGA.
No one in the audience was holding a copy of the document.
“Everybody at that table saw this IGA,” Mr. Bozek asserted. He then turned to the dozen or so citizens seated in the audience. “Did anybody here in this audience see the IGA, or any bullet points? Anybody? Any taxpayers?”
No one from the audience raised a hand.
“That’s what I mean by transparency,” Mr. Bozek continued. “And it doesn’t exist.”