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<br />"" <br /> <br />r- <br /> <br />, . <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />-- <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />.. '. ,_. <br /> <br />Oak Creek'boOncesba'ck <br /> <br />Oak Creek Town Board member Jean <br />Davidson said It best when she said last <br />week, "We're getting awful tired; It's <br />been a lot of hard work." " <br />She was, of course, referring to the ' <br />town's flood woes which began In <br />earnest around Msy 10 when Oak' <br />Creek-which' nins through to~ <br />started doing exactly that. In sue- <br />. ceeding days rampaging water wiped <br />'out a fine town park, damaged roads, <br />and most' importantly, destroyed the <br />city water system. . , <br />It's the latter problem which has <br />caused the most concern. Mudslides <br />have destroyed the city reservoir and <br />dsmaged about a quarter mile of water <br />pipeline. Residents have been placed on <br />water restriclions and may have water <br />for only a few hours eacll day until the <br />emergency situation has ended. <br />Prior to the mudslides, Oak Creek's <br />, water system was 'gravity feed.' Now <br />all water Is pwnped to the city's two <br />treatment tanks by two diesel pwnps <br />loaned to the city by Colorado-Yampa <br />Coal and the Edna P-M MIne. The <br />. system Is a fragile one and demands <br />around the clock attention. Oak Creek <br />mayor Nancy Stahoviak estimates the <br />system is costing the town between $300 <br />and $400 a day In fuel, maintenance and <br />supervision. <br />Meanwhile, many citizens ,:re <br />drinking bottled water supplied .~'"~ <br />, Adolph Coors Brewing Company. Upon <br />I hearing of Oak Creek's plight, Coors <br />shut down Its suds Jlne long enough to <br />ship 1100 cases (12 quarts to a case) of <br />pure, unbrewed, 'Rocky Mountain <br />Spring Water.' That adds up to about <br />two cases per Oak Creek family, and <br />the water Is being gratefully used. <br />Stahovlak sid estimates have run <br />, between $600,000 and $700,000 to repair <br />Oak Creek's streets, put in new culverta <br />and repair the reservoir. The city has ' <br />begun taking bids from local con- <br />tractors to shore up existing waterlines, <br />replace broken portions and create a <br />temporary lagoon In the reserv{)ir so <br />the ,more dependable gravity feed <br />system can be put hack on line once <br />again. <br />State engineers have termed the <br />situation critical. The town was hoping <br />for aid from the Army Corps of <br />Engineers but found out early this week <br />that the Corps will only aid actual <br />flooding areas, not those involved in <br />'cleanup'operatlons. <br /> <br />~- <br /> <br /> <br />. 1" <br />Oak Creek resident John Kuntz picks up his second case of Coors <br />drinking water at the Oak Creek City Hall. (Pilot photo by Ross <br />Dolan) ,',.' . .... , . ,,' " <br />, ' <br /> <br />To date the city has about $90,000 to <br />work with-$10,ooo from the state water <br />and emergency sewer fund and $80,000 <br />from the Department of Local Affairs. <br />The money, part of an impact grant, <br />was to be used for a sedimentation <br />pond, but state agencies concur, with <br />wry bureaucratic humor, that <br />"priorities have changed." , <br /> <br />Meanwhile the makeshift wate <br />system is working well enough to mee <br />state standards, but must be 'totaU <br />flushed out before water restrictlonsl <br />can be lifted. Water plant manager' <br />Chuck Wisecup' says the current <br />situation is a vast improvement' over <br />the first few weeks when the city's <br />water was so muddy "It wll$ll't even <br />boilable." ' <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />--I <br /> <br />- <br />