Englewood details City Ditch piping cost‑recovery plan and agrees IGA option with Littleton over historic flume

Englewood presented a capital‑cost recovery methodology for the City Ditch piping project and approved a revised intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Littleton that gives Littleton the option to preserve or remove a historic flume with reimbursement up to $100,000.

The City Ditch piping project, which will enclose remaining open‑channel sections between Chatfield Reservoir and the Allen Water Treatment Plant, is intended to improve aesthetics, reliability, safety and reduce maintenance for the water system, Englewood staff said. Stephanie Ellis, an engineer with Englewood Utilities, told the board the phase‑2 final design and construction costs may be partially reimbursed by contract users who take irrigation water from the ditch under longstanding contracts with Denver Water.

The proposed cost‑recovery methodology, presented by Stantec senior principal Carol Moleski, allocates total capital costs between Englewood and City Ditch contract users based on proportional water use. Using draft numbers, Moleski said roughly 8.1% of project capacity was allocated to contract users — about $999,499 of an approximate $12,170,000 project total — with the remainder charged to Englewood ratepayers. The board approved the methodology by voice vote.

Moleski described two amortization examples the city could use to recover contract users’ shares: a five‑year repayment at an assumed 2.7% interest rate with an illustrative annual payment of about $216,003, or a 10‑year option (3.0% in the model) with an annual payment near $170,171. She said interest rates and repayment term are policy decisions for the city and that contract users would be offered options to pay up front or on a multi‑year schedule.

On the IGA, Englewood staff said most terms remain unchanged from the version the board saw previously, including a tree‑mitigation fee Littleton asked be included (presented in the packet as $216,000–$216,500) and stabilization of ditch banks after construction. The revised IGA adds an option requested by Littleton regarding an overhead flume that conveys water over Slaughterhouse Gulch: Littleton may preserve or remove the flume, and Englewood would reimburse Littleton for related costs up to $100,000, with supporting documentation required for reimbursement. Sarah Stone (city staff) clarified the revised amount is slightly higher than an earlier contractor estimate of roughly $76,000.

Board discussion and staff comments reiterated that final reimbursement amounts to contract users will be recalculated after construction bids and final costs are known, and that the city is offering flexible repayment choices to accommodate contract users’ budgeting. Peter (staff) described that Englewood will permit contract users to pay in full at the time of billing or choose an amortized schedule; he said the city is not seeking to profit from the interest on financed amounts but to avoid incurring a loss.

The board approved the cost‑recovery methodology and later approved the IGA amendment allowing Littleton the preserve/remove option and the reimbursement cap, both by voice vote.

The project and its reimbursement terms remain subject to final contract amounts and the city’s policy decisions about repayment term and interest rate. Staff said the numbers presented were illustrative and will be recalculated when final construction costs are known.