The way
the water flows, it is still downhill!
The wells in Roggen were
donated to the town in the late 1960s from the Preston ranch. With
those wells we acquired approximately 234-acre ft. of water. May
18th, 2015, Res.
2015-08, Preston Ranch Ministries requested that the town donate
20-acre ft. back to them so they would have adequate water for the
group homes they operate. That resolution allowed them to
drill/re-drill an additional well on their property. Which left the
town with 214-acre ft. The 214-acre ft. of water does have
considerable value to the town either in transferring the AF to
another well location with the approval of a well field through water
court or leasing to other interested parties. The town’s water
attorney is currently working on the well field application. Well
No. 31652 FP was purchased in 2006 for a sum of 1.1 million, with a
current balance of $624,147.00. This well has produced over ½ of
Keenesburg water use. This well was linked with a water pipeline use
lease, that lease paid for the pipeline. Furthermore, this well has
also provided bulk water sales at approximately 2 million dollars in
Revenue. Well No. 31558 FP from Blue Valley Farms LLC. Is in the lost
creek alluvium (which is the same water source as well No. 31652 FP).
The towns primary intent is to purchase the water rights associated
with the Blue Valley Farms LLC well. Testing was done, the
adjudicated rights were verified, other necessary pieces of the
transaction are being set in place. For more detailed information you
can see the board packet from 06/06/2022 which is on the town’s
website. I believe water is the new gold standard and investing in
water rights is a wise decision. The well houses and well casings do
have a secondary value for the Town keeping in mind the true value is
in the water rights. One acre foot of water is approximately 326,000
gallons, the well No. 31558 FP from Blue Valley Farms LLC is
adjudicated for 120 acre-ft. Water rights sales records from 2011 to
today show one acre foot of water starting at $20,000 up to $90,000
so on the conservative side at $20,000 X 120 = $2.4 million our
contract is for $2.1 million. The value of water right now is only
going to go up in value based on environmental demand and need.
Our kids,
they grow up so fast!
Growth and development
cannot be avoided. The best we can do as a town is to ensure our kids
have a safe place to grow up in. The Town Board and Planning
Commission have worked very hard to ensure the new design standards
were put in place and that they met the values and feel of small-town
America. With the direction of the Town Board the staff has overseen
housing development, commercial development and our own home-based
police department. As can be seen with all the improvements to parks,
playgrounds, sidewalks, roadways, town appearance and the new
businesses that are now in Keenesburg it is a safer place to be now
more than ever. I am proud of the work I have accomplished as Mayor
for the town of Keenesburg. I know of too many Colorado towns that
thought they would stop growth by not taking charge of the inevitable
expansion of humankind. The result for all of them was neighboring
towns annexed right up to their boarders and did all the development
for them leaving them without any input toward those projects. From
2018 to today our town manager has been instrumental in procuring
$926,724 in grant money to help with Keenesburg improvement projects.
With a letter dated Aug. 24th,
2022, our certification of valuation by Weld County Assessor shows a
current year’s net total is $126,763,750.00 comparing that to
2018’s valuation at $982,230.00 we are showing positive growth. I
am committed to continuing to keep Keenesburg safe by providing
thoughtful and well-planned direction. Vote for Kenneth L Gfeller for
mayor Nov. 8th,
2022. Thank you all for your continued support.
