Springs Utilities paying $747,000 to Denver PR firm

Colorado Springs Utilities has paid a Denver public-relations firm hundreds of thousands of dollars to help it promote the $2.3 billion Southern Delivery System.

From November of 2007 through May of this year, Sigler Communications received $747,000 related to the 62-mile pipeline, Utilities spokeswoman Janet Rummel said Wednesday.

Sigler has global clients and has been involved in numerous high-profile environmental cases, including the ASARCO Superfund site in Leadville, the now-closed Rocky Flats nuclear weapons production facility near Denver, and Rocky Mountain Steel Mills in Pueblo, according to its website.

Rummel said Sigler was brought on board in 2007 through a contract that the utility had with CH2M Hill. Sigler was a subcontractor to CH2M Hill and earned most of its money in that capacity.

In December 2009, Rummel said, the utility decided to enter into a $120,000 sole-source contract with Sigler because it had so much expertise that it would have been more costly to switch to another company.

“The SDS project is unique in its size and scope,” she said in an e-mail. “Hiring contract support with this expertise for a fixed period of time is more cost-effective than hiring additional full-time staff support with salaries and benefits.”

Walter Lawson, a retired landscape architect and frequent critic of Utilities, called the payments to Sigler “stunning,” adding that the city-owned utility has a well-staffed communications department.

Councilman Randy Purvis said the expenditures seem reasonable.

“Given the nature of the permits and how much we had to spend to get the permits and how critical it is to work with elected officials in Pueblo, I think it’s a worthwhile expenditure,” he said.

Utilities has a public-affairs division with a $6.14 million budget, according to its website. The division includes community relations, government affairs, an issues-management department and corporate governance.

Lisa Sigler, head of the public-relations firm, said in an e-mail that Sigler has “regular, ongoing contact with (Utilities).”

She said the firm has helped with the acquisition of permits, mitigation plans, communication with property owners and stakeholder outreach.

However, the most recent Sigler contract obtained from the utility through the Colorado Open Records Act makes it clear that its primary work in 2010 is the development of a comprehensive and sophisticated public-relations campaign.

According to a section of the contract, “Tasks, Deliverables & Schedule,” one job is “message development and communication.” This includes the promotion of “message consistency,” the drafting of “SDS talking points for key issues,” “media training for messengers” and the preparation and review of “communication materials for reinforcement of key messages.”

A second task is to “build and solidify Utilities’ base of support for SDS objectives.” This involves communicating with “community leaders” in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, such as business groups, homebuilders,  trade associations, economic-development groups and neighborhood associations.

It also encompasses obtaining support and endorsements from members of the community, including permission to use their names in public materials.

A third job assigned to Sigler is to “assist Colorado Springs Utilities with SDS rate-increase communications.” The objective is to work with Utilities staffers to develop “key rate-impact messages” and promote “consistency” in them.

Earlier this spring, Utilities rolled out the first two of six water-rate hikes to fund SDS construction. The City Council approved the increases, with only Councilman Tom Gallagher voicing strong reservations.

Utilities’ Rummel said that SDS is one of the largest construction projects  undertaken by the entity. The communications budget, she said, isn’t out of line with those of other large infrastructure projects in the region.

Rummel said Denver’s $1.7 billion T-REX Project had an estimated $2 million  communications budget; the $6.7 billion RTD FasTracks, $1 million; and the $754 million Aurora Water Prairie Waters Project, $3 million budget.