craigdailypress.com

The extension of Ninth Street west beyond Moffat County Road 7 to the site of the new hospital might have been easy if not for the roads crossing of Cedar Mountain Gulch.

The drainage crosses the county road at Ninth Street and is currently serviced by a pair of 30-year-old culverts, which meet 10-year-flood plan requirements.

With the addition of Colorado Northwestern Community College's nursing school and other buildings planned for the hospital hill, the county was hoping to upgrade the drainage capacity while replacing the old culverts.

In a presentation to the Moffat County commissioners Tuesday, Dan Giroux, a consultant with Diversified Consulting Solutions, discussed his meetings with county road and bridge supervisor Bill Mack and city public works director Bill Earley, who inquired about costs on a 100-year-flood plan system.

Giroux notified the board that meeting the requirements for a 100-year-flood plan would require 220 feet of culverts, costing between $500,000 to $600,000.

The three 10-foot-wide and 4-foot-tall box culverts would also require relocating a large waterline at the intersection, and it would use up most of the money the county had allocated for the intersection project.

The commissioners asked Giroux to calculate the replacement costs of the current culverts with culverts designed for a 25-year-flood plan, with the understanding that there will be another access to the hospital if a major flood occurs.

"We're on the right track," Commissioner Tom Gray said. "We just don't want to spend our whole grant on one crossing."

The commissioners said the next access planned for the property would need to meet the 100-year-flood plan requirements.

Commissioners also approved two final plats for minor subdivisions on Moffat County Road 30, with stipulations that any subdivision construction that disturbs more than 1-acre of dirt will need a state storm-water drainage permit.

The permit requires landscaping to assure that no great amount of water or silt washes down to neighboring properties.

Commissioners asked the zoning and planning commission to attach the stipulation to all future subdivisions coming before the county.

Dan Olsen can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 207, or dolsen@craigdailypress.com.