From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Kevin Duggan):
The City Council last week approved a pair of resolutions authorizing the city manager to investigate options for cooperative agreements to provide service to the Boxelder Sanitation District and area water providers known as the tri-districts. Council members said they support the concepts of regional cooperation and consolidation of services, but they want to make sure any potential agreements would protect the city’s interests. Those interests should go beyond financial considerations, Mayor pro-tem Kelly Ohlson said. The city also has an interest in land-use patterns and water conservation. Any agreements should be good for the city, the districts and the region, he said, but not pertain “just on the dollars.”[…]
The Boxelder district provides sewer service to portions of Fort Collins as well as parts of unincorporated Larimer County and Timnath. In time its services could stretch in to Weld County.
The tri-districts – the East Larimer County Water District, the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District and the North Weld County Water District – own and operate the Soldier Canyon Filter Plant, which is next-door to the city’s water treatment facility on LaPorte Avenue near Horsetooth Reservoir.
Growth in their service areas is likely to force the districts to eventually enlarge their facilities or build new ones, officials say. By consolidating services, the districts could save money and the city could get help covering its costs.
The city’s larger water and wastewater facilities have enough capacity to handle the additional flow because of successful water conservation programs, officials said. Steve Comstock of the city’s wastewater division told council members the Boxelder district, which operates a treatment facility downstream of the city wastewater plant on East Drake Road, might be able to get by without building another facility along the Poudre River.