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<br />-. <br /> <br />PROJECT SUMMARY (Through June, 1995) <br /> <br />In January of 1992 and again in February of 1993 the Colorado Mental Health <br />Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP) applied to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, <br />Office of Water Conservation, for a grant to initiate the development and <br />installation of a computerized irrigation management system, At the time, <br />CMHIP was the largest agency in the Colorado Department of Institutions, with a <br />campus in the central portion of Pueblo consisting of 300 acres with <br />approximately 51 acres irrigated, CMH IP is now a part of the Department of <br />Human Services which was formed in July, 1994, by combining the Department <br />of Institutions and the Department of Social Services. The CMHIP campus is <br />becoming more developed with the recent construction of the San Carlos <br />Correctional Facility by the Department of Corrections and the current design of <br />another prisoner for youthful offenders scheduled to be built on the campus in <br />1996. <br /> <br />The irrigation control system is comprised of 68 zone clocks with up to six zones <br />per clock spread out across the campus, Irrigation management has been labor <br />intensive and has produced a tendency to drastically over water the lawn areas. <br />This precipitated the desire to undertake a complete overhaul of the system in <br />order to take advantage of technology available for irrigation control. <br /> <br />The first grant application in 1992 was not selected for funding, but in May, 1993 <br />CMHIP was informed that the 1993 grant application was approved for funding <br />for $49,875. A draft agreement was put together by August of 1993 and a <br />completed Memorandum of Understanding was executed in December of 1993. <br /> <br />In January of 1994 the design portion of the project began and continued <br />through August of 1994. This portion of the project included system evaluation. <br />We found that there were two major competitors for irrigation control systems in <br />the Rocky Mountain region. MotorolafToro competed in the market with their <br />MIR 5000 System while Rainbird's entry was the Maxicom System. These <br />systems had some technological differences, but it was determined that a <br />competitive bidding document could be produced that allowed vendors for the <br />two systems to fairly compete. The bidding process was conducted from <br />September, 1994, to mid-November, 1994, with the Rainbird Maxicom System <br />emerging as the winner. <br /> <br />Purchase Orders were issued in November, 1994, and early 1995, to complete <br />purchase of the system and related hardware and electrical and plumbing <br />miscellaneous, In many cases in the design of the irrigation management <br />system, we found that it was advantageous to combine irrigation vaults and <br />eliminate sources of supply to reduce the number of master valves and flow <br />meters required in the system, Miscellaneous material arrived in early 1995 <br />