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Town Receives Over $9 MM in Grants
The effort to improve the Silt Water Treatment Plant this week received a big boost when an agency of Colorado government voted unanimously to approve Bilateral Infrastructure Law (BIL) “principal forgiveness” (basically a grant) in the amount of $6.645 MM to the project.
The Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority Board (WRPDA) also voted to fund an $2 MM in additional grants as part of their base program. With the $300,000 the Board granted the Town for design and engineering in June and the $450,000 received from the Garfield County Federal Mineral Lease District earlier this year, the Town has reduced the amount of what it must borrow for the project by $9.395 MM.
The WRPDA also voted to approve $4 MM in BIL and $14 MM in base loans for the Town, $3 MM at a reduced interest rate of 3%. The remainder will be loaned at what the bond market will bear, thought to be around 3.3%.
How does this impact water rates?
Water rates will be the major topic of conversation between Trustees at the Monday, August 28 Board Meeting, beginning at 7 PM. The Board will also discuss construction cost trends, the budget as it now stands for the project, as well as a tentative construction schedule.
The plant has exceed its expected useful life and does not have the capacity to serve the growing community.
More information can be found at www.townofsilt.org on the home page, lower left-hand corner under the button titled “Water Treatment Plant Planning Documents and Information”.
The meeting on Monday, August 28 will begin at 7 PM at Silt Town Hall.
Streets Work in Silt: Some Basics
By Trey Fonner, Town of Silt Public Works Director
All the road work the Town has been able to accomplish over the last few years has brought forth some questions. I have had some Town Citizens come to me and ask what goes into the process of selecting which streets will be worked on. So, I figured there might be more of you out there with the same questions. Following is a brief description of the thought process and the different kind of treatments that are used.
First let’s get the Interchange out of the way. This is a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) structure and is maintained by them. The Town of Silt is active in the Inter Mountain Transportation Planning Region (IMTPR). This division of CDOT is where the Town “lobbies” to get the interchange improvements onto CODT’s state wide 10-year plan or other plans to move a major redevelopment forward. The IMTPR boundaries are from Parachute to Silverthorne along I70 and also includes Highway 82 up to Aspen. It also includes Highway 24 to Leadville. Town Administrator Jeff Layman and I make sure that at least one of us are at these meetings, making sure the Town of Silt has a voice being heard.
Back on the Town’s streets, there are 3 types of treatments that can be done to streets. First is a complete mill down and repaving, second is a 2” overlay of asphalt and third is a chip and seal. Examples of each one is Tara Subdivision was done with the first treatment, 3rd and 4th street made use of treatment number 2 and the Flying Eagle subdivision was done with third treatment. What treatment is used depends on the condition of the asphalt. The Town employs the Paser rating scale to judge the quality of asphalt within the Town. The process rates the quality of the pavement from one to ten and how long it will last until it ought to be replaced.
The mill down and replace is used on streets that show a lot of “alligator” cracking, numerous spots where the pavement is coming apart. These streets would be listed as the 1-3 ranking on the scale. The asphalt has too much damage and the other types of treatment would not hold on this road and in a year or less after treatment you would have the same problem again. Mill down and replace is the most expensive of all the treatments, but after complete you should have 10 years before this asphalt will need treatment.
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A 2” overlay can be used on streets that have limited “alligator” cracking and some transverse or longitudinal cracking. The asphalt would rank as the 4-5 on the scale. The asphalt is not so far gone as it would need to be completely removed, and laying a 2” layer on top will extend the streets life for 8 to 10 years before next treatment is done. At a price of around $140.00 per ton you can see where this 2’ overlay is cheaper than a mill and replace, which would take a 4” layer of Asphalt.
The last treatment for streets that rate 6-8 on the scale is the chip and seal. This treatment can be used on streets that have some transverse or longitudinal cracking but not much. The first step is to seal all the cracks and then put down a tack layer of tar. Small rock chips are then spread on the road and compacted in to the tar. It is then opened and used for a set number of days to let the everyday traffic push the chips in more. After that time a “fog” coat is applied. This will add 5-7 years to the life of the road before another treatment is needed. This is also about a third of the cost, or less of doing asphalt.
The final consideration on which streets will be done is what is under the street. As many of you know Water Mains, Wastewater Mains and Irrigation Mains transverse the Town under the streets. Part of the process is to evaluate what is there. Is the pipe in good enough condition that it does not need to be replaced before we spend the money to fix the road on top of it. The streets that have been done in the last couple years are streets that there are limited utilities underneath them or the utilities are in good enough shape that they do not need replaced at this time.
Which brings me to the question that has been asked the most. What about Grand Avenue? Grand is its own monster, there are numerus Water Mains, Wastewater Mains and Irrigation Mains under Grand. Most of these are in need of replacement and/or upsizing. Grand is currently in the Engineering phase, and the plan is to redo Grand from Pickett to First street. The overall project is estimated to cost Five million dollars to complete, so it will be done in phases. The first phase will be Pickett to about 16th Street. The Town is hoping to put Phase one out to bid in November of this year for construction to start in the Spring of 2024.
I hope this answers the questions that many of you might have. If you have more questions or would like to talk about streets, please feel free to contact me Trey@TownofSilt.org.
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Painter and Photographer Dan Young to Present to the Board of Trustees at 5:30 Monday Night; Public Welcome
Silt’s own resident artist Dan Young will be presenting both his thoughts and some of his work about the Silt River Preserve, a place where he has been creating great paintings for many years. Besides Dan’s paintings made in this place, he has recently published a book of incredible photos that he has taken over the years.
Dan was born in Denver, and grew up in western Colorado. “ Camping and fishing throughout the Rocky Mountains as a child was a strong influence on him and his work, Young has said. He attended Colorado Institute of Art, hoping to find a direction in art. After graduation he moved to Dallas to pursue the commercial art field.
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Even with a successful Illustration career, the landscape was always calling him back. In 1989, he returned to Colorado to begin painting full time. Young enjoys painting the rural life of the west, the ranches that dot the mountain valleys and river bottoms. He states,“ Though I’m a landscape painter, I like introducing hints of man’s presence in the landscape. Sometimes I feel I’m in a race to paint a disappearing way of life. It’s hard to watch so many of the family farms and ranches being swallowed up by development.”
Dan will present a 30-minute collection of his work and talk about the special public place the Silt River Preserve has become. Besides Former Silt Public Works Director Jerry Pace, current PW Director Trey Fonner and Silt Project Manager Joe Lundeen, Dan is perhaps the preserve’s biggest supporter.
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It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that the Town announces the loss of our colleague and friend, James Vigil.
James Vigil was a revered member of the Silt Public Works Department since he began his employment in 2021. James was excellent heavy equipment operator and top-notch mechanic. There is not much James has not done for the Town as a member of Public Works. When James was not at work you could find him working on something in his shop, or racing side by sides.
In February of 2023 James was hospitalized and received the news none of wants to hear.....cancer. He started undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment. While it looked for a while like the treatment was helping, the cancer never completely went away. James had been in and out of the hospital, since the diagnosis.
The Town of Silt, with the help of Larry Stewert and the Alpine Bank team, has set up a benefit account in James’s name, to help his family with the mounting medical bills. If you would like to donate, please go to any Alpine Bank or come to Town Hall. The Vigil family and the Town of Silt would like to thank you for your support. For more information or questions, please contact Trey@Townofsilt.org.
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