The Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District Board of Directors met in April for the last time as a board before the new directors are seated following the May 6 election.Before the public session of the meeting, the directors held an executive session. No action was taken at that time.Prior to the public comment portion of the agenda, Al Kreps, board secretary, presented a packet that he said addressed information posted on a website belonging to Ron Pace, WHMD board candidate, which alleges the board has acted unethically.The allegations included the following: secret meetings held by the WHMD; WHMD has a financial obligation totaling more than $60 million; the WHMD violated a non-disclosure agreement; and some district employees are paid 150 percent higher than the average for that particular position.ìI followed the advice of the author (Pace) of that blog,î Kreps said of the contents of the packet. On his website, Pace repeatedly urged anyone curious about the allegations to follow up with certain entities and do their own research to determine the validity of his claims. Kreps said he did just that in response to each allegation. Pace fired back after Krepsí presentation and said he has had difficulty getting information from the district, and his Colorado Open Records Act requests have not been appropriately honored.Wastewater issuesEvan Ela, WHMD attorney, presented a contract proposal from Wastewater Compliance Systems Inc. The proposal focused on a bioshell media that would be installed in the wastewater holding ìlagoonî to allow the system to work better, especially during the cold winter months, Ela said.ìThis will assist with what we need to do to be in compliance all year,î Ela said. He said both he and water/wastewater director Gene Cozzolino recommended approving the contract, which would cost the district an initial non-refundable payment of $58,562.50. Another identical payment would be made after the installation. If the bioshell media doesnít work, the district could ask for reimbursement of that second payment, Ela said.Without the bioshell media, the district faces the possibility of incurring $10,000 per day fines for each day of non-compliance with state regulations, Cozzolino said. The board unanimously approved the contract.During his report, Cozzolino provided an update on activities within the water/wastewater enterprise: the completion of 60 more radio transmitter installations in the transmitter program that will eventually alleviate the necessity to take a physical meter reading at each home; the need to replace a filter at lift station 1 because the current one vibrates, causing the building to shake; and the start of the decommission of lift station 2 now that the Meridian Ranch lift station is online.Annual auditLisa Peterson, administrative director, presented a contract proposal from RubinBrown LLP for the districtís annual audit, which is scheduled to begin June 2. The company has performed the last three annual audits for the district but their price increased by almost 100 percent this year, she said.ìWeíve budgeted $12,000 for the audit but they quoted us at $16,000 to $18, 000,î Peterson said. That cost was comparable to two other bids she received.After some discussion, the board approved the contract with RubinBrown by a 3-2 vote, with Robert Lovato, board vice president, and Bryan Mendiola, board director, opposed.The next regular meeting of the WHMD is May 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center West.
