Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Water Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City says Woodland Park drinking water is safe after state flagged lead service-line inventory; staff to continue inspections
Summary
City utilities staff told the council March 6 that the city submitted its lead service line inventory but received a Tier 2 notice from the state because many service-line materials were listed as “unknown”; staff said the drinking water is safe and outlined outreach and inspection plans.
Woodland Park’s utilities director told the City Council on March 6 that the city’s drinking water remains safe but that the state issued a Tier 2 notice after finding the initial lead service line inventory incomplete.
“We will clear the water tonight,” Utilities Director Kip Wiley told council and members of the public during a presentation describing the federal and state lead and copper rule revisions and the city’s response. "Our water is safe to drink. I’ll say that many times tonight. It is safe," Wiley said.
Wiley summarized the federal Lead and Copper Rule revisions (LCRR) that required community water systems to submit an initial service-line inventory by Oct. 16, 2024, and to notify customers if the utility could not determine the material of the portion of the service line that runs from the main to the home. Woodland Park submitted inventories to the state before the deadline but the state deemed the final submittal unsatisfactory and issued a Tier 2 public notice related to unknown service-line materials, Wiley said. The city did not receive any fines, he added.
Key technical points Wiley gave to council and the public:
- The city’s service lines are shared between the public utility and homeowners: the city owns the portion from the main to the property shutoff and the homeowner owns the portion from the shutoff to the building. Service lines constructed after 1981 were installed as copper or plastic per city engineering specifications, allowing staff to classify those lines without inspection; unknowns are concentrated in properties built before 1981.
- The state’s notice tiers range from Tier 1 (highest concern) to Tier 3 (administrative failures). Woodland Park received a Tier 2 notice because many entries were recorded as “unknown,” not because of lead detections in drinking water samples.
- The city mailed required public notices on Feb. 19, 2025, and followed the state’s certificate-of-delivery process for those mailings. Wiley said staff also posted information on the city website and social media and placed an article in the local paper.
Wiley estimated roughly 900 to 1,000 service connections remained listed as “unknown” and said the city serves about 4,000 customers. He said the city last performed state-required lead testing in July 2024 and that the test results showed no lead exceedances.
On next steps, Wiley said staff will keep contacting property owners, perform visual and simple in-place tests where possible (including a magnet or scratch test), and schedule inspections as meter changes or repairs provide opportunities to check material. He said the inventory is updated as homeowners provide information and that the city will send follow-up notices annually until the inventory is complete.
Council members thanked Wiley for the presentation and requested staff post the presentation slides on the city website and social channels. No fines, enforcement orders, or specific replacement program was approved at the meeting; Wiley said whether the city or homeowners would pay to replace any confirmed lead service line “is to be determined” and that any replacement program would likely require additional council action and budget decisions.
Council recorded no formal vote on the inventory itself; the presentation generated follow-up directions for staff to continue outreach, inspections and public communications.
