From the Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka): “Council delayed an emergency vote last week because three members were absent, and those who were present thought the full council ought to act on the ordinance that would approve signing the agreement. If Pueblo approves the IGA, it would be the last of several groups which are envisioned as participants in the district to sign on. County commissioners from Pueblo and El Paso, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and all of the El Paso County cities in the Fountain Creek watershed, including Colorado Springs, have already signed on.
“Council’s action also would come in advance of a hearing in the state House Ag committee on SB141, the measure creating the district, scheduled for Wednesday. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, has already passed the Senate. The district is designed to have direct authority over the Fountain Creek flood plain between Fountain and Pueblo, but would not circumvent any existing land-use authority. It would provide input to decisions throughout the watershed and could charge service fees. It would not be able to levy property taxes without a vote in both counties. The district is the culmination of two years of work by the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force, which began meeting in 2006 as a response to escalating conflict between Colorado Springs and Pueblo over frequent sewer spills into Fountain Creek.”