Welcome to Expansion News – the source for updates on our building project!
Here is an update from Gary Herrli on the progress in getting a reliable source of potable water for UUCB.
The first $101K cost for what might be needed to upgrade UUCB’s water source has been earmarked by our Endowment Committee and approved by our Board of Trustees (BOT) from our Endowment Fund.
The Expansion Project team has been working exhaustively on this solution since April of 2024 and hopes to have a solution in place within the next four to six months.
Here’s the alternatives that have been studied.
Annexation to City of Boulder
After submission of a 67-page application to the City of Boulder for an Annexation Feasibility Study, the city responded with a long list of additional annexation requirements that could cost UUCB $500,000 to $800,000. That is much, much more than what was expected by our BOT or the Endowment Committee. Negotiating that cost to come down to an affordable amount could easily add an additional year to the project and there is no guarantee of success.
Because of this, the BOT directed our architect to assist in finding other solutions.
Well Water
It is currently costing UUCB about $12K annually to test our well water per state requirements this calendar year. That cost would likely continue into the foreseeable future, even if we are able to dig or drill a deeper well. The consensus of local well water professionals is that if we were able to increase the capacity of our existing well, it would still provide water from the same aquifer of dubious quality. Although the final State report from testing of our current well water is expected by January, preliminary results do not look good. If we were able to get more capacity from a state-approved renovation of our current well, an expensive robust filtration system would be required and most likely, expensive daily monitoring required by the state at an additional cost in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cistern Storage
The Expansion Project teams in concert with our architect are exploring the costs of a 5600-gallon buried cistern to provide potable delivered water to UUCB from a state certified water supplier. Monthly delivery of water could cost in the range of $750/month. The existing well, with a larger reservoir for capacity could be used for site irrigation including the garden. This solution when completed would not require any continued state testing or filtration and chlorination.
Construction of the cistern solution could take place within 4-6 months at a cost of under $100,000. This solution does not impact moving forward with the capital campaign for expansion since it would mostly be covered through Endowment funds.
The good news—we should have answers and possibly a solution soon! As mentioned earlier, the plan is to have a solution in place within the next four to six months!
Also, check out the bulletin board in the Sky Room labeled Expansion News. It’s another way for us to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening.
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