The Saratoga Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board (water and sewer board) met Wednesday after postponing its Sept. 13 meeting by a week. The board gave the final go-ahead for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) property south of town to begin the process of joining the town’s water and sewer system, and also granted permission to the Old Baldy Club to tie into a town water line.
After many months of discussion with the water and sewer board, as well as the Saratoga Town Council, representatives of the USFS were told by the water and sewer board they were clear to award a contract for the project to connect the USFS facility to municipal water and sewer services.
The USFS approached the board in November 2016 to request permission to tie into the town’s water system.
The facility’s well water was of poor quality, according to Melanie Fullman, District Ranger for the USFS.
The request set off a race against the clock, since extending town water to the facility would require annexation of the USFS office into the town of Saratoga.
The USFS would also have to accept town sewer services as well, according to the board.
Because of the process involved in designing the connections and annexation, the USFS was racing against the clock to get everything done, since funding for the project would have expired at the end of the U.S. Government’s end of fiscal year on Sept. 30.
After a public hearing regarding annexation in early May, the town council voted to annex the facility May 16.
After several months of engineering discussions with the water and sewer board, the USFS and water and sewer board came to a final agreement, thereby greenlighting the project.
A USFS representative said the USFS would be awarding the contract for construction, but due to weather, work on the new lines tying the facility into the municipal water and sewer lines would likely not begin for some time.
The water and sewer board also discussed a proposal by Old Baldy Club to tie into another town water line.
Old Baldy Club currently receives water from the municipal system, but would like to tie into another line in order to boost water pressure and eliminate two storage tanks at the private residential neighborhood and country club, according to a spokesman.
Currently, water that comes into the club from the town’s supply requires chlorination. Tying the club into a second line would eliminate the need for that treatment, as well as the storage tanks the water and sewer board was told.
The spokesman described water use at the club as minimal, saying most homes at the club were occupied only during the summer, several of the homes have no occupants at all, and the club only has one year-round resident. Irrigation for the golf course does not use municipal water.
The cost of the expansion would be borne by Old Baldy Club.
The water and sewer board voted to allow the connection pending permitting from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.
The next meeting of the water and sewer board is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at Saratoga Town Hall.
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