New SUVs for stormwater workers

Colorado Springs’ new stormwater enterprise workers will be driving seven new vehicles costing $250,189, most of them 2008 models.

The vehicles are additions to a fleet of 17 the enterprise inherited from city general fund departments that formerly handled drainage work.

Several are pieces of equipment, like a backhoe, that aren’t road-ready, city spokeswoman Carrie McCausland said. And one of the 17 is to be retired soon because of age.

The new purchases signal the enterprise is gearing up as 17 percent of bills remain uncollected and a court case is pending that could lead to a ballot question seeking to make stormwater fees voluntary.

Two SUVs have been delivered: a 2008 Ford Explorer, $25,590, and a 2007 Ford Escape, $22,720.

They are being used to drive around the city taking water samples, surveying and inspecting drainage facilities, McCausland said. The Explorer is shared by four or five staffers, while the Escape serves as a pool vehicle for up to 11 employees.

Four 2008 Ford Ranger pickup trucks, at $17,545 each, are on order. McCausland said they’ll be used for a new program to monitor grading, erosion and sediment control of construction jobs to assure they don’t cause mud and debris to clog drainageways.

The enterprise, which plans to double its work force to 26 by July, is hiring the people who will drive the Rangers, she said.

A 2007 International 5900i, costing $131,699, also is on order and will be used to haul equipment from site to site.

Although stormwater workers are doing maintenance work, no new enterprise projects are under way yet, McCausland said.

Councilman Tom Gallagher, who opposed the enterprise because he wanted voters to decide the issue, hopes the vehicles aren’t loaded with options.

McCausland said she didn’t have details but noted they were bought using city standard equipment lists.

Gallagher also expressed concern the city is buying more vehicles when “we have more vehicles than we have employees,” he said.

“You don’t go out and buy new vehicles for everybody before you do any work. That’s not the way to instill confidence with citizens.”

Councilman Jerry Heimlicher declined to comment until learning more about the stormwater’s vehicles but said, “I know there’s more work being done.”

The city created the stormwater enterprise in 2005 and adopted fees in November that assess property owners based on impervious surface and type of property.

The city hopes to collect $14.3 million this year and $15.6 million annually thereafter to tackle a $66 million backlog of critical projects that’s part of a $300 million list of needed channels, bank stabilizations and other drainage work.

Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce, an El Paso County commissioner, got permission to circulate a petition to place a measure on the November ballot that would make the fee voluntary, require voter approval to set up future enterprises and roll back property taxes.

The city protested, saying the measure violated the single-topic requirement. District Judge Rebecca Bromley is to rule on the issue next month.

Bruce contends the fee is a tax that voters never approved.

Meantime, property owners initially were slow to pay their first-quarter bills, issued in February and March. A fourth became delinquent for nonpayment on April 30, but since then more have paid, raising the amount received to 83 percent of the $4 million billed.

This week, the City Council approved collection procedures, including a 6 percent delinquency charge and $20 bad-check fee. The council also approved a 5 percent credit paying a year in advance.

The second-quarter bills went out this week.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazette.com