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Nucla trustees reassign $5,000 in source‑water funds and approve payment of water‑case invoices
Summary
Trustees voted to reallocate $5,000 from source‑water funds and authorized payment of about $9,803.80 toward the town’s share of water‑rights litigation and engineering invoices; trustees asked staff for a detailed breakdown of remaining costs and funding sources.
Nucla’s board moved to cover the town’s portion of recent water‑rights legal and engineering bills after hearing a technical update on due‑diligence filings and invoices. A trustee moved to “allocate the source water money to pay the water case invoices and also make a motion to submit payment on the water case invoices,” and another trustee seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
The motion’s proponents cited a legal filing that converted parts of previously conditional water rights to absolute rights and noted the town agreed to pay roughly 20 percent of some county bills. The board recorded a payment amount of approximately $9,803.80 and agreed to use $5,000 from the source‑water fund toward that total, then directed staff to identify which budget lines will supply the remaining balance.
Greg Miller, a board member, emphasized the urgency of protecting source water and preserving water rights: “We’re running out of water. Something’s gonna happen,” he said during the discussion about supply and diversion points. Trustees also raised operational concerns, including sheriff and EMS coverage if a large facility increases local demand.
The board asked staff to provide a detailed invoice breakdown and clarified that the payment covers invoices already submitted to the county and costs for outside counsel and engineering. The motion to allocate the $5,000 and approve payment passed with board members responding affirmatively during roll call.
Next steps: staff will return with a line‑item breakdown of the invoices, a recommendation for the remaining funding source(s) and documentation of which invoices the town is approving for payment.
