The Financial Future of Walsenburg

The Financial Future of Walsenburg

As a citizen of Walsenburg, I am interested in the future of our city. Because I have lived in several other areas, I made comparisons and chose to move here for several reasons. The natural beauty of the mountains and streams, the quiet slow pace of life, and the friendly people are part of the attraction. The cool summers and the winter snow are also compelling. What I have noticed since moving here three years ago is that I am becoming more interested in the future of our city and nation.

Almost daily there seems to be another infringement on the freedoms I took for granted most of my life. This disturbing trend caused me to question how we got in this situation. The answer is that we have not been vigilant enough about our government and our public servants.

Being retired I have some time to read and to attend community meetings. This has raised my awareness of city government and the problems we are facing here. We have serious problems with our infrastructure. Many of our water and sewer lines are old and fragile. We are short on jobs and tax revenue from business. The city is barely solvent.

We should evaluate our priorities to make decisions that result in improvements in essential services and reserve funds to provide support when water and gas lines are in need of repair or replacement.

While we should try to attract new business, we should not forget more pressing issues. Fiscal responsibility in our utility departments is critical. Reserves are necessary to maintain our basic services. Projects like the proposed sewer line for Northlands is a multimillion dollar project that is growing in expense daily with no end in sight. This one project is consuming an inordinate amount of money and time. If the city's moratorium on development were lifted, a business interested in moving to the Northlands could do so immediately.

The current sewer plans for Northlands could cause us to be liable for debt for up to forty years. Concerned citizens should come to committee meetings and city council meetings to help with these serious matters. As citizens we could have greater input on large debt issues if they were presented to the public as bond issues.

Alvin Murphy

Walsenburg, Co.Walsenburg Christmas parade 2012 (Check this video out.)
There is a new facebook page for Walsenburg information. http://www.facebook.com/walsenburgconews