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Pueblo, Colorado Springs Staffs Meet; Water Not Discussed

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Jeff Tucker, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

Mar. 29--Pueblo city staff members met with their Colorado Springs counterparts Tuesday, but say water was never a topic of discussion.

"Their utilities director was there, but he probably thought it was the biggest waste of two-and-a-half hours in his life," said City Manager David Galli. "Not once did we discuss anything related to water or the Fountain Creek."

There was a brief update from Colorado Springs on the development of its stormwater utility, but that system is not part of Colorado Springs Utilities or the proposed Southern Delivery System. Galli said Colorado Springs hopes to have its stormwater utility in place by October.

Galli said he, Public Works Director Dan Centa, Planning Director Jim Munch, Stormwater Utility Director Dennis Maroney and Wastewater Utility Director Gene Michael spent most of Tuesday morning in Colorado Springs covering a broad spectrum of issues affecting both cities.

The two staffs covered topics ranging from the airports to the city's planning processes, Galli said.

Galli said that two years ago the two cities had tried to make such meetings a regular occurrence, but it has been about that long since the staffs actually met.

He hopes to make the meetings regular events and plans to hold another meeting with Colorado Springs staffers later in the year. Galli also hopes to expand the practice to other nearby cities.

"I think it behooves both of us to learn from the experiences of other communities," Galli said.

He said the two staffs talked about how Pueblo might streamline its planning process and discussed the development of Gate 20 at Fort Carson and how the growth of the base will effect both communities.

Galli said the staffs also talked about commercial air service at Pueblo.

"I told them that our commercial service is limited to what is provided by the (federal) essential air service funding, but I joked that any time they want to send a plane down to Pueblo, we'd welcome it," Galli said.

While the close st the two staffs got to water was the discussion about Colorado Springs' stormwater utility, Galli said he understands how people can jump to conclusions.

"I think, to a large extent, people forget That the city of Colorado Springs has other issues," Galli said. "There has been so much talk about water and the Fountain Creek that it's at the forefront of everybody's mind."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

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Source: The Pueblo Chieftain

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