BOARD01980

• Board Meeting Date: 2/5/1982
• Description: CWCB Meeting
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

on the Colorado River, a treatment plant, transmission lines,
treated water storage tank, new distribution lines in town, and
water meters. The projected construction cost was $500,000--
$250,000 from the construction fund and the remainder from
other sources.

After the project was authorized in 1977, the town
obtained $215,000 in the form of a grant from the Department of
Local Affairs. The remaining $35,000 of the required $250,000
match was to come from the town's funds.

With the financial package in hand, separate contracts
were executed with Parachute for the Board's $250,000 and the
Local Affairs' grant. Construction was initiated on the
transmission lines, distribution lines, and water meters with
the Board's funds and on the storage tank with the grant
monies. The expenditure of Board funds came to $190,000,
while $92,000 was expended on the storage tank.

After construction was initiated on these features of the
project, Parachute decided that it wanted to investigate a well
system in the valley alluvium to see if the costs of a
diversion structure and treatment plant could be avoided or
reduced. The town expended close to $16,000 out of its $35,000
towards the project for the necessary investigations. The
results of these investigations indicated that sufficient
yields could not be obtained from wells.

By this time the potential for rapid growth in Parachute
suggested the need for more treatment capacity than was
contemplated in 1976-77. This is what prompted the staff to
recommend to the Board the authorization of an adrlitional
$200,000 from the construction fund. The staff's
recommendation and, in turn, the Board's recommendation to the
General Assembly, arldressed funding for only the diversion
structure and treatment plant features of the town's project.
The $200,000 from the construction fund was to be matched in an
equal amount from other sources.

After the General Assembly authorized the additional
$200,000 in 1981, Parachute obtained a second grant from Local
Affairs for $270,000 plus $166,000 from two oil shale companies
for the rliversion structure and treatment plant. A contract
for the $270,000 was executed with Local Affairs, construction
initiated, and a new engineering firm retained by
parachute--all without the staff's knowledge. Construction
proceeded for several months without our inspection and
approval before we were even made aware of the situation.

We now find that Parachute will have a fully completed
system with more than twice the treatment capacity that was
recommended to the Board only 15 months ago. The $60,000
balance of funds from the Board's initial $250,000 and the

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