It's All About the Northlands

The Walsenburg City Finance meeting and the City Council meeting were all about the Northlands again. (No surprise there.)  For years the Walsenburg city has been consumed by their interest in the development of the Northlands.  It is  seen as the panacea for all the problems of Walsenburg.  Supposedly, the installation of the multi-million dollar sewer line will bring life to an otherwise dying city.  It sounds like a sales pitch.  In fact, there is no guarantee that businesses will locate there. There is also no guarantee that the city will ever recover any of the funds spent on the project.

At the city council meeting Tuesday night, there were several discussions of how to bring about the Northlands project as quickly as possible.  Noticeably absent from the meeting was any enthusiasm for projects in Walsenburg south of the camelback.

There was a presentation by LiveWell Huerfano County.  They are working to promote pedestrian and bicycle trails in Walsenburg.  In conjunction with the presentation of a route map, they discussed the painting of a bike lane divider on some streets. There were suggestions by the city council about implementing their proposals; however, if only they could incorporate the word Northlands in their name, they could probably receive substantial money and immediate action from the council.

Near the end of the meeting, Jacque Sikes was recognized to speak.  She discussed Ordinance 1015 which was passed in Walsenburg on December 10, 2012, to provide for replacement of sewer and water lines that are older than 3 years.  The money is collected through sales tax and designated for capital improvements to the water and sewer infrastructure.  The ordinance requires a 5 year plan to address problems with the water and sewer systems.  Because no plans have been drawn and money has been spent from these funds, Jacque requested that separate accounts be set up for them so they could be easily accessed.  The reception of this request was less than welcomed.  The administrator immediately protested that it would create an extra workload; although moments before, the same administrator was expressing how easily the job of city treasurer could be assimilated by his office personnel without hiring a new treasurer.

The pattern of expending time and money on one area of Walsenburg continues.