Last year, Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District purchased a video camera system to examine its sewer lines. In April, the camera revealed something unpleasant: an unconnected sewer pipe on Red Lodge Road.ìThat’s the way it was installed ñ totally separated,î said Larry Bishop, district general manager. ìThey just put the pipes in the trench and walked away. It’s a working pipe. You can see the flow.îThe houses on Red Lodge Road were built in 1995 or 1996, said board member Robert Lovato.Bishop said Woodmen Hills Metro District is responsible and liable for the pipe infrastructure. Technically, the problem is a sanitary sewer overflow that’s illegal in this state. It’s flowing into the ground, he said.About 25 percent of the sewer system has been inspected by the camera, and this is the third significant problem that’s been found,î Bishop said. ìIt’s already paid for itself,î he said.The camera system will be used when new piping is connected to the sewer system and again before the developer’s two-year warranty expires. If any problems are found, the developer will be responsible for fixing them, Bishop said.The basement-flooding problem on Fort Smith Road cost the district $385,000, said board member Keith Moultin. If the camera had been in place at that time, Bishop said costs would have significantly decreased ñ to probably about $40,000 to $50,000 total. Lovato asked if the district should buy another camera for examining the water distribution system. ìWe’ve got such good accountability on what we pump and what we bill; we’re pretty confident we don’t have any major leaks,î Bishop said. ìBut 85 percent of water leaks never surface, so we do need a leak detection program.îThe district could use some of the equipment it has already purchased to examine the water system, but not the camera or its cables because of the potential of contaminating the water system. New equipment would cost anywhere from $15,000 to $150,000, depending on the size of the camera, he said.Before buying another camera, Bishop said he’d like to get the results of the cost of a service analysis that’s in progress. The district hired Red Oak Consulting to analyze the district’s rate structure, cash flow, future capital improvements and how rates should operate, he said.Bishop said he expects Red Oak to present their results to the board at its June 23 meeting.In the meantime, Red Lodge Road will be dug up and repaired as quickly as possible, he said.
