The Carriage Hills and Spruce Knob water line improvement project is set to break ground in May or June of this year, with the construction award happening sometime in late March or April.
This extensive project will complete the Carriage Hills Phase One improvements and convert the properties along Joel Estes Drive from potable water to Town of Estes Park water service taps.
This project is funded with grants and loans and is estimated to cost a total of $8.3 million, said Jacqui Wesley, Project Manager for the Town of Estes Park, at the Feb. 25 Town Board meeting where final approval of the loan documents and water-service extension agreements with the residents on Joel Estes Drive were granted.
Loans and grants will make up most of this cost, and the Town’s Water Fund will pony up to $2.3 million.
The State Revolving Fund was obtained at a fixed rate of 3.25 % over 20 years, for a yearly payment of $240,000. Approximately 10% of this will be paid for by the Spruce Knob residents on Joel Estes Drive since they are not currently part of the Town’s water system.
“What’s the real-life impact going to be on the people who live by this project?” asked Trustee Mark Igel at the meeting.
Wesley admitted that when the construction is immediately in front of someone’s home, it will be disruptive, but in Carriage Hills, there are connecting roads throughout the neighborhood so alternate routes can be found.
In Carriage Hills, the planned work includes the creation of up to 80 new service connections, establishing interconnections with the Town’s water supply, mitigation for pressure breaks, installing 5,900 linear feet of eight-inch iron ductile pipe, and repairing the roads after the work is completed.
The residents along Joel Estes Drive were previously serviced by the Spruce Knob Water Company, essentially a well which was deemed unsafe by the state in 2022. Since then, they have been purchasing potable water from the Town.
Because this area is part of the unincorporated Estes Valley, these residents were required to bring up their existing lines into code before connecting to the Town’s system. This was not completed, so their portion of the loan payment will be included in their monthly water bills until it’s paid off, explained Town Attorney Dan Kramer.
After the bids to complete this project are collected, Town staff will go back to the board to approve the final plan and construction will begin. This project is expected to be completed in November 2026.
Other Town Board business
Also at the Feb. 25 Town Board meeting, Federal Transit Administration grant funds in the amount of $102,132 with a matching obligation of $87,132 were accepted by the board. These funds will be used to support the operation of The Peak, the town’s transit system. The matching portion had already been budgeted for 2025. An intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation was required to accept these funds, and this was approved by the Board.
Tammy Zimmerman, the Town’s new finance director, was appointed as the town treasurer and town clerk pro tem by the Board.
In addition, the Board reaffirmed the 2018 Resolution in support for immigration reform in a tight vote.
The next Town of Estes Park Board meeting will be held on March 11 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room, 170 MacGregor Drive.