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<br />MR. SPARKS: Mr. Chairman, as the board members will recall, the <br />statutes governing the use of Colorado Water Conservation Board con- <br />struction funds state that annually this board shall determine projects <br />that are eligible for construction through that fund and determine the <br />priority of such projects. Following that determination by this board, <br />we are required to submit our findings to the Colorado General Assembly. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The board members will recall that we did that last year. We requested <br />approval of projects for Allenspark, Meeker and Gunnison. We trans- <br />mitted to the General Assembly, through the Speaker of the House and <br />the President of the Senate, the recommendations of this board. Two <br />of those projects were funded last year - Allenspark and Meeker. The <br />Gunnison project was not funded. The Meeker project is now under con- <br />struction. The Allenspark construction will start as soon as favorable <br />weather occurs this spring. The final design and specifications are <br />being drawn up to let bids for that project. <br /> <br />There are no funds in our budget for any other proposed projects. Upon <br />instructions from the Governor's Budget Office, we did not include in <br />our bUdget any construction funds for this fiscal year. <br /> <br />Regardless of whether or not funds are in our budget, it is our respon- <br />sibiliti to provide the General Assembly with the board's recommendations. <br />Then it s up to the General Assembly to determine whether or not those <br />projects will be funded. The first and necessary step is for this <br />board to act. From there on, it's up to the General Assembly. <br /> <br />There has been placed on the agenda a list of projects which the staff <br />believes are eligible for consideration by the board, utilizing con- <br />struction funds from the board's project fund. In your folders, you <br />will find a proposed priority list and a summary of each project, the <br />total cost, the board cost, annual charges, the period of repayment <br />and the total charges. <br /> <br />You will note that the staff recommends an expenditure of two million <br />six hundred and sixty-one thousand dollars from the construction fund. <br />As charges for the use of those prvjects, the board would receive back <br />four million three hundred sixty-one thousand dollars. In other words, <br />we show a net gain of approximately a million and a half dollars over <br />the payout period for these projects. <br /> <br />Mr. Chairman, there may be some representatives here from some of these <br />project areas who are prepared to speak on behalf of their projects <br />this morning. <br /> <br />MR. STAPLETON: Larry, what I would like to have you explain to the <br />board is how you arrived at the priority, what was the criteria, the <br />time of application, need, all the factors you took into consideration <br />in establishing what I gather is a priority of one to six. <br /> <br />MR. SPARKS: The first priority is the Gunnison project. Since the <br />board recommended the project last year, we felt that we should carry <br />over projects that are not funded from year to year on almost a purely <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />-2- <br />