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- ... .... 'J) uro.."i H<fo..\d.. 3-20-02.. . .. I .. . ;',' if' .75!!l'-.', . ! ~.~-~_..._~~9,-!it~~i City puts $45,000 into A-LP water study I Getting dam water to city may be more costly than other alternatives By Brian Newsome Herald Staff Writer The Durango Cil}' Council has agreed to spend $45.000 to study whether or not the city should take advantage of the Animas.l.a Plata Project. Jack Rogers, director of public works, explained to the council at a meeting Tuesday night that the city has an opportunity to acquire water storage from the project. .But he said more research was needed to determine if doing so would be cost effective. The Bureau of Reclamation has decided how the project's costs will be divvied up among partiCipants wing its water, which will_be stored in Ridges Basin Reservoir, south of Durango. But creating a mecha- nism for bringing the water from the reservoir to the city. where it can .then be' used, has not been determined. Rogers said using A- LP's water, after bringing it to the city, may be more expensive than other water-storage alternath'es, such as pumping water from the Animas River using the city's exist- ing pumping plant. Consequently, Rogers recom- mended that the city hire a consul- tant to perform a water-suppl}' study that would reveal the least expensive option for meeting the city's needs. The City Council unanimously supported the idea. "I think this is a very important thing we're dealing with in terms of the future of the community," said Mayor Pm TemJohn Gamble. Also Tuesday, the couricil igreed to give the Manna Soup Kitchen $20,000 to_he~p construct a perma- nent -center currently being built on Avenida del Sol. The city also donated $5,820 , , "I think this is a very important thing we're dealing with in terms of the future of the community." John Gamble, Durango mayor pro tem from its general fund to cover Manna's plant-investmem fees for water and sewer. The fees could not be waived by the city because they go into the emerprise fund, which relies on fees for operation of those services, said Clim Kinney, ass~s,tant city manager. Last fall, the city leased a piece of property free of charge for 20 years to the soup kitchen so it could build a permanent "center, Kinney said. Jerry Swingle, chairman of the soup kitchen's board, thanked the council for the donation and said the kitchen's new building should be open for business by the begin- ning ofluly. He said the group is about $120,000 shy of reaching its $475,000 fund-raising goal but was optimistic about meeting it. "Certainly this contribution by the city puts us closer 'to that g63.1," he said. ,-: -:_.',. In other action, the cou'ncil: . Adopted a set of air-quality I guidelines aimed at maintaining! Durango's current levels of air i quality. Durango's air quality is , . ~C?re ,than 50 percent higher than the Environmental Protec~ tion Agency's minimum stan~ dard. The guidelines are designed' to reduce air pollution caused from 1 things such as road dust, fireplaces and automobile emissions. . Postponed discussion and action on Escalante Crossing and Home Depot until April 2 at 'the applicants' _requests because the developers and Ho~e ~epot repre- sentatives - needed ~'inore time to '-prepare., -"':\i,: - . "; '_'Re~h Staff Writer Brian NewSQ11U I '.at.brlan Cf!,dl!~angoherald.com. ,