On Dec. 18, the El Paso County Planning Commission held the second of two public hearings regarding the adoption of a water master plan for the county. Following the hearing, the commission unanimously approved the plan.In 2017, the county hired Forsgren Associates Inc., a civil engineering company in Englewood, Colorado, to develop the plan.At the second hearing, Mark Gebhart, deputy director of the EPC Development Services Department, recapped the process to develop the draft plan, and said it was sent to 110 different interested entities across the county for review, including the city of Fountain and Colorado Springs Utilities. Additionally, the public had a chance to provide feedback through numerous avenues, including a web-based program, he said.As part of his presentation, Gebhart highlighted vital points from the publicís input. More than 100 of about 160 respondents strongly disagreed with the idea of drilling additional wells to reach quality water sources for future development. About three people agreed with the idea, and about 23 people had no opinion, according to the data.The commissioners reviewed the draft, and Gebhart answered their questions. After reviewing the document, the planning commission opened the floor for audience members to voice their support or opposition to the plan.Terry Stokka, Black Forest resident and member of the Friends of the Black Forest Preservation Plan, said he believes water sufficiency should be proven at the sketch plan phase of any development plan. ìWe have 7,000 homes that say Sterling Ranch Metropolitan District will supply them with water,î he said. ìThat metropolitan district does not exist; it is only on paper.îJudy Von Ahelfedt, Black Forest resident and member of the FoBFPP, said, ìI continue to advocate that this document is not yet ready for final adoption Ö I am hoping you will continue to edit and revise this document and maybe table it until after the new (EPC county commissioners) have been seated and there has been a chance for more public input.îCraig Dossey, executive director of the EPC Planning and Community Development Department, said his goal is to continue to update this and other plans and re-evaluate decisions the county has made. However, until EPC has a water master plan in place, there is nothing to continually modify and update, he said. ìWe have to have a starting point,î Dossey said.Cole Emmons, senior assistant county attorney for EPC, recommended that, if the board chose to approve the resolution, they make the water master plan an amendment to the master plan for EPC. He added that the water master plan was advisory in nature only and was not a regulatory document.The resolution does not require approval by the BOCC. A copy of the plan can be found at https://epcdevplanreview.com.https://epcdevplanreview.com.
