Dolores trustees to weigh $79,000 water plant rewire Monday

The Dolores Board of Trustees meets Monday, October 26, with a $79,000 electrical upgrade at the town’s water treatment plant as the one item set for possible action.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Town of Dolores agenda packet for October 26, 2026

Resolution 726 would accept a proposal from Durango Electrical Services, Inc., which the packet says also operates as Nice Electric, and authorize the town to sign an agreement. The work would upgrade the treatment plant’s electrical service to 400 amps and 480 volts, three-phase. The proposal, dated October 19, is for the option the resolution identifies as Option B, at $79,000.

The resolution says the town had already identified the upgrade as a necessary capital improvement and included money for it in the 2026 Water Fund capital improvements budget. Payments would come from the Water Fund, and the resolution anticipates that construction may begin late this year and carry into 2027, with each payment counted in the year it is made. It limits the authorization to the scope and the amount in the contract; anything beyond that would need separate approval.

The contractor’s proposal lists what the price covers — demolition of the old service, a 400-amp rack-mounted service, a panel, disconnect, breakers and grounding, a step-down transformer, underground feeders, a splice box and the electrical permit — and what it does not, including payment and performance bonds, excavation and backfill, utility fees and line extensions, and concrete or asphalt patching.

The vacant trustee seat

Under administrative business, the board will discuss rescheduling the interviews and appointment for its open trustee seat to the November 23 meeting. The agenda lists the item as discussion, with no action scheduled.

The seat has been vacant since Linnea Peterson’s resignation took effect on October 1. The board declared the vacancy in September and the town opened applications through October 29, with interviews and an appointment set for November 9.

Consent agenda and the budget

Three items are on the consent agenda, which passes in a single motion unless a trustee asks for one to be taken separately: a liquor license transfer to El Patron Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, the minutes of the October 12 meeting, and an appointment to the Library Board. The packet includes a state liquor retail license application for the transfer.

The board holds a budget workshop before the regular meeting. The town has already set its budget hearings, and the proposed 2027 budget is available to read at Town Hall during business hours.

The agenda also carries trustee reports and a future-agenda list that includes culvert maintenance and cleaning, Flock cameras, a CDOT road safety grant, affordable housing, revenue generation and the Montezuma Search and Rescue property request.

The regular meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at Dolores Town Hall, 601 Central Ave. The agenda says people who want to attend online can find the link on the town’s website under Government, then Town Board Meetings. Public comment is limited to five minutes a speaker, and the agenda asks for a name and address.

The full agenda packet is on the town’s Town Board Meetings page.