To learn about civic engagement, three members of Estes Park’s Scout Troop 8 attended the May 20 board meeting of the Upper Thompson Sanitation District last week as a requirement to earn a Communications Merit Badge.
You might have thought that three boys would snicker and whisper a few potty jokes about wastewater amongst themselves.
Q: What do you call a funny sewage joker? A: Pun Gent.
Q: What do you call a sewer expert? A: A connoissewer.
Q: Why was Piglet staring into the toilet? A: He was looking for Poo.
But instead of base humor, the scouts politely sat through the 90-minute meeting and listened attentively to a report about how crew members crawl into utility holes and wear safety harnesses in order to investigate and repair line leaks.
At one point, when UTSD crew members explained to the board how they sometimes have to get an easement to access a buried line, board member Kent Bosch turned to the scouts and asked if anyone knew what an easement was.
One scout spoke up and said an easement allows someone to have access to someone else’s land. Bosch and the other board members were duly impressed.
The Communication Merit Badge requires a scout to attend a public meeting such as a city council, school board, or a debate that has been approved by their counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue, practice active listening skills, take notes on each point of view, and then prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share the report with the counselor.
Diana Franklin, who brought the scouts to the meeting, said the boys were able to observe several modes of communication, including formal communication, voting, casual conversation, presentations and speeches, and written, oral, and non-verbal communication.
The board discussed the adoption of updated organizational policies and Franklin said it was interesting for the scouts to observe how the board deliberated over some differing views regarding terms used in the language of the policy.
“It was helpful that there was one dissenting opinion, reasoning for differing viewpoints offered and discussed and finally a compromise leading to a group decision,” said Franklin. “Overall, it was a really great experience for the boys. Everyone was very welcoming, friendly, and hospitable. It was wonderful how various staff and board members interacted with the boys and brought them into the conversation.”
In March, the UTSD board had expected to vote to move forward on building a new $80+ million wastewater treatment plant, however when bids were unsealed, they came in more than $14 million over budget. The board voted to suspend the effort.
At the May board meeting, Christopher Eshelman, board chair, announced that the organization had been in discussion with their design engineer to explore what viable alternatives there were in redesigning the new treatment plant in order to “get this project to a cost that the district can sustain and handle.”
“It’s almost a redesign without being a redesign,” said Eshelman who described the effort as “value engineering.”
“It is going to take spending some more money to get to that place, but without going through the years of redesign,” said Eshelman.
The next meeting of the UTSD will be June 17 at 4 p.m. at the District’s office, at 2196 Mall Rd.