To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Mark Henderson, P.E., Assistant Director
Roy Gallea, P.E., Engineering Manager
Josh Hansen, P.E., Project Manager Supervisor
Erin Evans, P.E., Project Manager
Title
Ordinance Authorizing the Exercise of the Town’s Powers of Eminent Domain to Acquire Certain Real Property Interests Necessary for the Highway 85 Wastewater Collection and Treatment System Project (Second Reading - Approved on First Reading on April 21, 2026, by a vote 6-0) [Located in Sedalia, CO]
Body
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Executive Summary
Castle Rock Water (CRW) is seeking Town Council adoption of an Ordinance (Attachment A) authorizing the exercise of the Town’s power of eminent domain, if necessary, for the Sedalia Lift Station and Force Main to Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority (PCWRA) Project.
The Sedalia Lift Station and Force Main project is to design and build the main wastewater conveyance line to PCWRA for the town of Sedalia and the surrounding area as shown in Attachment B. Sewer trunk lines and connections to residents and businesses will need to be constructed through system development fees to take full advantage of this project. However, the first phase of providing these services includes a lift station and force main pipeline.
The proposed pipeline is approximately 4 miles in length and crosses 9 properties, including Town Right-of-Way. A land acquisition consultant, Western States Land Services (Western States), was retained to assist with property owner coordination and conduct good-faith negotiations to acquire the necessary easements. Staff and Western States have completed numerous onsite meetings and phone conversations with property owners to discuss potential project impacts and gather feedback regarding specific property owner concerns. Notice of Intent letters have been sent to all property owners, one acquisition is completed, and several others are in the final negotiation stages.
The project construction is starting in April 2026 with a deadline of December 31, 2026, to spend down American Rescue Plan Act funds that comprise the majority of project funding. Additionally, CRW has invested in this project to provide up to $5.8 million to close the funding gap for the total project cost of $19.8 million. Therefore, time is of the essence to complete the acquisition process. Given project schedule and experience on other projects, Staff requests approval for the use of eminent domain, if necessary, to facilitate easement acquisition on the remainder of the properties to avoid unnecessary project delays.
Budget Impact
The current project budget estimate is $19,784,296.46 million. A total of $14,000,000 of funding for this project is being paid for by Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds granted to Douglas County. CRW plans to collect the additional $984,296.46 needed for the project through system development fees along with the $4.8M that was previously approved. The project is being administered by CRW and a 1% Project Management fee of up to $140,000 is included for the management of the project. The request for this ordinance does not have a direct budget impact, but project delays that could result from the inability to acquire needed easements in a timely manner could result in an increasing project cost.
The current estimated projected costs are:
As per the IGA with Douglas County, expenses to be reimbursed to CRW from the escrow account will be processed through GL Account # 213-4575-445.79-33 - 85 Regional Wastewater, project number 250024.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends Town Council approval of the ordinance authorizing the use of eminent domain to acquire the required easements, if necessary.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Ordinance as introduced by title.”
Alternative Motions
“I move to approve the ordinance as introduced by title, with the following conditions: (list conditions).
“I move to continue this item to the Town Council meeting on _____ date to allow additional time to (list information needed).”
Attachments
Staff Report
Attachment A: Ordinance
Attachment B: Easement Acquisition Map