“So, I think we have a valuable commodity here, and we’re not serving our utility well if we don’t increase the rates like we did for everyone else.”
This comment was made by Pagosa Springs Town Council member Gary Williams, at the Council’s December 21 meeting, discussing a proposal to continue providing up to 450 GPM (gallons per minute) of municipal geothermal water to the Springs Resort & Spa — up to 284 million gallons a year — for a cost of about $33 a day.
An adult day pass to the privately owned resort now costs $65, for the pleasure of sitting in mineral-enhanced water, much of it provided from a municipally-owned well behind the old Courthouse.
From the Resort website:
Water. Much of Earth is covered by it. It sustains us. It’s the source of life. Here on the banks of the San Juan River, our mineral-rich, geothermal water means even more. The Springs Resort is built around one of the Earth’s original wellness destinations. The physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of our hot springs run deep. Some say deeper than the Mother Spring that feeds them.
I can’t say how deep the benefits might run, but it’s my understanding that the ‘Mother Spring’ does not feed them. The Town taxpayers have been feeding them… providing hot, mineral-rich water at a bargain price, and then paying a pretty penny to enjoy it.
I cannot imagine our Town Council making a decision to stop providing municipal water to the Springs Resort, after two decades of generous agreements that have allowed the Resort to greatly expand.
But I can imagine our Town Council determining that our water is worth more than $33 a day.
One member of the Council, Matt DeGuise, argued that $33 a day was in line with what other commercial users of the Town’s geothermal heating are paying. It appeared that his perspective was not shared by other Council members.
Here’s Council member Leonard Martinez:
“The thing that has bothered me about that [geothermal] asset, is that we’ve just been going along, and not thinking about it very strategically. When we had the Region 9 presentation, and the costs of living in Region 9, and that here in Archuleta County, they were looking at families needing an income of $92,000 a year. What is that doing to those who are already living on the edge?
“To me, a strategic use — and this is not necessary ‘market value, but what I think would really speak to our community — I don’t know exactly where the infrastructure goes, but if we could provide people with free heat… Because we have that water, and as long as we don’t trash it completely, but find a way to get the heat into the community, and maybe the Resort could find a way to help us do that…
“I just think there’s more we could do…”
I’ve been writing about various generous agreements between the Town and the Springs Resort for almost 20 years, and I would venture to suggest that — based on my research, and on reports about the conditions of the municipal heating system — it would be completely infeasible for the Town to offer “free heat” to most of the homes in downtown Pagosa Springs. The existing pipes reach only about 10 percent of the downtown homes; most of the customers are businesses or churches within the core commercial area, or near the Middle School or the Elementary School.
My own home is located just three blocks from the Town’s heat exchanger building, and yet my immediate neighborhood has no access to geothermal heat.
A number of years ago, when the number of downtown customers was slightly higher than it is now, the system’s heat exchanger was using close to 450 GPM during the coldest parts of the winter… and the Town’s water right is limited currently to 450 GPM. This suggests that — even if we could afford to lay new pipelines — we could not add very many more customers, based on our existing water rights.
What we see happening now, on the far side of the San Juan River, is the ongoing construction of a new 78-room Springs Resort hotel — which might be heated by our geothermal water? And at least eight new bathing pools under construction, which also might make use of the Town’s geothermal water? If the Springs Resort is going to double its need for hot, mineral-rich water over the next year, and if the Town Council agrees to provide every gallon the Resort is requesting, that would seem to make expansion of the community heating system impossible.
But none of these important questions about the future of our geothermal water were addressed in the Council information packet last Thursday. What the Council saw were court decrees and past agreements, along with a proposed new agreement — but no facts about how the Resort currently uses our taxpayer-provided water.
The packet didn’t include — for example — information about how much the Resort charges the public to use its own water in their pools. Fortunately, some of the Council members had researched those prices independently.
Council member Brooks Lindner agreed with the points being raised about the proposed fee agreement, “but I’m in the position of needing more information.” I would say the entire community is in that position.
At the conclusion of the Council discussion on Thursday, Council members Gary Williams and Leonard Martinez agreed to form a subcommittee to try and discover more information, and to formulate an appropriate fee for delivering up to 284 million gallons of community water per year to the Resort.
The Council also approved the idea of a temporary, one-year lease — rather than a perpetual lease — that will provide up to 450 GPM to the Resort for $33 per day.
“But we want to notify all users that we want to engage in a discussion about this asset, and its strategic use for the community, and its value,” stated Council member Martinez, when making his motion.
The motion passed, with one ‘Nay’ vote from Council member Matt DeGuise.