At the July 11th Board of Trustees meeting, following an Executive Session, the Board unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included the June 13th meeting minutes, Ordinance No. 455 to amend Chapter 10 regarding trash (“dumpster poaching”), and, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the County for Fraser River Trail Maintenance pertinent to the recent Open Lands, Rivers and Trails (1A) grant award of $43,500.

CR 72 Realignment Project

The Trustees next discussed the CR 72 realignment project. Town Manager, Jeff Durbin, described the current road at a 13% grade, which creates difficult driving conditions in winter. He said the solution is to realign the road to the backside of the new Drop trash and recycling facility, reducing the grade and improving access. The realignment would be done on town-owned land. He also mentioned that a swap of a small parcel is underway with the Cemetery.

The realigned road would still be considered as CR 72, and the project costs would be shared with the County and Denver Water.  Denver Water’s Special Use Permit states that they will contribute toward roadway improvements at a rate of somewhere between 10-20%. The County would then split the remaining costs 50/50 with the Town. An Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the County would be engaged to formalize cost allocations and the Town would also manage the project.

The Town had put the project out to bid and received several proposals, one notably lower. Using that bid amount, the cost to the Town would be approximately $143,000. Durbin stated that this cost had not been budgeted, but with other projects deferred, they can afford the expense.

It was agreed that the Trustees would wait to award the contract to the bidder until the IGA with the County has been signed. Durbin said he would have the IGA available at the August 1 Board of Trustees meeting, after which the work could begin.

Waterline Projects

The Town had also requested bids for two waterline projects. The Doc Susie waterline project completes the emergency work that was started in the winter when a pipe burst. The other project is on Byers Avenue, from the railroad crossing to Norgren. They’d done some work on this last year and hoped to complete it this year.

The bids received came in for amounts much higher than anticipated. Town staff had discussed the projects and the bids with the Water and Wastewater Committee at their last meeting. The recommendation was that the Town rebid the Byers Avenue project, but move forward with the Doc Susie project, since the condition of the pipes is questionable. After discussion, the Board felt it would be better to rebid both projects and try to get the Doc Susie project started in the fall.

Town purchase of Pond #2 nearly complete

Durbin told the Trustees that an Operating Agreement, part of the Purchase and Sale Agreement of Fraser Pond #2, located by the Fire Station, with Grand County Water & Sanitation District #1 is being reviewed by water attorney, Chris Thorne. The agreement should be suitable for execution in time for the August 1 closing. Durbin emphasized this is “great for water and sustainability”.

Fraser River Corridor Pilot Project

Town Planner, Catherine Trotter, updated the Trustees on the status of the Fraser River Corridor Master Plan. The construction documents for the Pilot Project went out to bid in the spring and they had received one bid. Skinny Traffic LLC, a company based in Fraser, submitted a bid of $59,696 for the pilot project, consisting of redoing the trails around the Lions Pond and adding ADA compliant features. Trotter told the Trustees the bid came in lower than anticipated. The Town had removed tree planting from the bid and is working with a homeowner north of town to transplant trees from the property instead. The Board unanimously approved the bid award.

Trotter told the Trustees that they’re in the process of putting together a grant strategy to fund the rest of the project. During 2019 budgeting, she said she would be seeking input from the board on what comes next. “We need to be strategic when going for grant dollars”, said Trotter.

For more information, visit: frasercolorado.com