Residents of the Palo Verde subdivision have voted to form a public improvement district to provide the framework for a $430,000 water pipeline extension, according to results Tuesday.
The pipeline would bring water to each lot in the 18-home subdivision east of Three Springs and Mercy Regional Medical Center. It would connect with an existing city of Durango pipeline in Three Springs.
Returns Tuesday night showed 23 votes in favor of three ballot measures, with only three opposed.
“We're happy that the ballot issues passed,” said J.D. Feuquay, president of the Palo Verde Homeowners Association. “I guess we're disappointed not 100 percent voted in favor.”
Palo Verde was built in 1995, predating much of the development surrounding the subdivision. Residential wells are becoming inadequate as development presses in from Three Springs, and runoff is declining from Florida Mesa as more irrigators line their ditches, Feuquay said.
Some Palo Verde wells have trickled down to only 1 gallon a minute.
“One gallon a minute, you can't wash your clothes, wash yourselves and wash the dishes at the same time,” he said.
Feuquay said his own well has too much fluoride, and is becoming too alkaline.
The vote raises property taxes for the average Palo Verde homeowner to $324 per month, up from $86. The owner of a $363,500 house – the average home value in the subdivision – would pay $2,857 more in property taxes each year, according to a La Plata County staff report.
Feuquay said financing for the water extension will rely heavily on grants and low-interest loans, not all of which are place.
“Basically, all of those things have to fall in place to make it happen,” he said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
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