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Rocky Ford readies for sweet future
By ANTHONY A. MESTAS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
September 16, 2009
Editor’s note: The Pueblo Chieftain is taking a detailed look at life along the Lower Arkansas Valley, both the big communities and the smaller towns that make up Southeastern
ROCKY FORD - A large freight train rumbles through the sweet melon capital of the world.
Early morning shadows shift across acres of farm fields as producers wake the town for another day in this peaceful community.
At city hall, Town Administrator Dan Hyatt begins the day planning meetings that will be dedicated to making the town of about 4,000 a better place to live.
Hyatt, sitting at a conference table, said the one thing that sets this town apart from others in the Lower Arkansas Valley is the volunteerism and the ability to get things done. "People in the community are very involved and they want to see the community
improve," Hyatt said. "This town bends over backward to make things happen."
Resting along U.S. 50 between the smaller towns of Fowler and Swink, this agricultural town which produces cantaloupe, watermelon, corn and everything in between is highly dependent on the bloodline and most precious resource in the valley
- water.
Currently, town officials are working on several projects dealing with water. Hyatt said that water issues are at the top of his list of subjects to discuss.
"We have a major water system upgrade under way. It's about a $6 million project with six phases," Hyatt said.
"We have completed two phases of that with the construction of a new 750,000-gallon water tank and a new water pump station."
Hyatt said that water system upgrades are mostly being paid for with grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
"Combined, the grants were somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million," Hyatt said.
He said that town council will be going out to bid this week on the renovation of the town's water treatment plant, which is expected to be a multimillion dollar project.
"That's going to be a complete upgrade of the filtration system and the addition of a new ultraviolet disinfection system," Hyatt said.
Hyatt said other phases in the project will include drilling a new well in the town's well field north of town by the Arkansas River.
"We will be running a new backup main waterline transmission from the well field to the town," Hyatt said.
The town currently has only one transmission line from the well field.
"If something were to happen to that during the winter we would only have the water storage tanks to rely upon. So by putting in a second transmission line we will have a backup," Hyatt said.
The town also will replace waterlines across town in the aging system.
Rocky Ford received $945,000 in stimulus funds to extend water lines 3,000 feet to the Hancock Water System west of the city. The small water district has 46 taps and is facing expensive upgrades to deal with radionuclides in its well water.
The connection would allow the district to blend water or tap into Rocky Ford’s system, Hyatt said.
"This will posture the city so that if other water companies locate to the west of the town and wish to purchase water from the city, then we will be in a position to where we can extend our waterlines to do that," Hyatt said.
He said construction on the project will start before Sept. 30.
Another project Hyatt reported was the completion of a new waste water lift station located at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds.
"It just simply needed to be replaced," he said.
The town also has a new chlorination/dechlorination disinfection facility at the wastewater treatment plant.
"As water exits the lagoon system, we inject chlorine into the effluent at that point to disinfect it. At the end of that process we inject chemicals to remove the chlorine," Hyatt said.
Mayor Mac Holder and Hyatt listed several other town upgrades in the works.
A new $1 million events center has been constructed at the fairgrounds.
"This is nice and new," Holder said. "It has made a huge difference at the fair."
Another project that Hyatt said was good for the town and the fair was repairing 25 adobe horse stables at the fairgrounds.
"They haven't been fixed since 1989," Holder said.
"Several volunteers from across the state helped us with this project including Juan Espinosa with The Pueblo Chieftain. He came down and put on classes on how to make adobe and we were really impressed with him," Hyatt said.
"We will continue to use those skills to finish all of the 80 stables," he said.
The town also is converting its trash system to an automated system to make it easier for workers.
Hyatt said that he and town council also are working to create an economic development office.
"We have purchased a building on North Main through a HUD grant and we have a construction crew rehabilitating the building. It will have office space for new businesses so it's going to be an arts and business incubator," Hyatt said.
"We are very excited about this project," Holder said.
The new facility will be state-of-the-art with a split-screen teleconference center, computers and other technical charms.
"It will be on the forefront of technology," Hyatt said.
Holder said that town favorite Crystal Lake will soon be up and running again.
Rocky Ford was given lakes previously owned by American Crystal Sugar. The lakes were constructed in the early 1900s to assist with the sugar plant.
The community has adopted the water pools for recreation and fishing.
Hyatt said that the lakes had to be drained to prove to the state that they were not intercepting ground water. The lakes have been dry for two years.
"We have proved that and we are running a few more tests before we get it going again. It's a very popular lake here where people fish and like to walk," Hyatt said.
Hyatt said that volunteers have refurbished old seats at the Grand Theater and made several other repairs to the town's only movie theater.
The town also is developing a community master plan with the state Department of Local Affairs.
"Rocky Ford is in the same boat with most of the Lower Arkansas Valley towns. It's an older community and most of the infrastructure has aged and we just got to the point where we had to upgrade," Hyatt said.
"We've just been busy with several projects to make our town a great place," Holder said.
Hyatt said that everything is coming to fruition because of the leadership of the town council, the utility board and the people of the community.
"We are just lucky. I mean a lot of communities wind up with a lot of political fighting and so forth over these things and that has not happened here," Hyatt said.
"We all want to make the community better and we will."
ROCKY FORD - A large freight train rumbles through the sweet melon capital of the world.
Early morning shadows shift across acres of farm fields as producers wake the town for another day in this peaceful community.
At city hall, Town Administrator Dan Hyatt begins the day planning meetings that will be dedicated to making the town of about 4,000 a better place to live.
Hyatt, sitting at a conference table, said the one thing that sets this town apart from others in the Lower Arkansas Valley is the volunteerism and the ability to get things done. "People in the community are very involved and they want to see the community
improve," Hyatt said. "This town bends over backward to make things happen."
Resting along U.S. 50 between the smaller towns of Fowler and Swink, this agricultural town which produces cantaloupe, watermelon, corn and everything in between is highly dependent on the bloodline and most precious resource in the valley
- water.
Currently, town officials are working on several projects dealing with water. Hyatt said that water issues are at the top of his list of subjects to discuss.
"We have a major water system upgrade under way. It's about a $6 million project with six phases," Hyatt said.
"We have completed two phases of that with the construction of a new 750,000-gallon water tank and a new water pump station."
Hyatt said that water system upgrades are mostly being paid for with grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
"Combined, the grants were somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million," Hyatt said.
He said that town council will be going out to bid this week on the renovation of the town's water treatment plant, which is expected to be a multimillion dollar project.
"That's going to be a complete upgrade of the filtration system and the addition of a new ultraviolet disinfection system," Hyatt said.
Hyatt said other phases in the project will include drilling a new well in the town's well field north of town by the Arkansas River.
"We will be running a new backup main waterline transmission from the well field to the town," Hyatt said.
The town currently has only one transmission line from the well field.
"If something were to happen to that during the winter we would only have the water storage tanks to rely upon. So by putting in a second transmission line we will have a backup," Hyatt said.
The town also will replace waterlines across town in the aging system.
Rocky Ford received $945,000 in stimulus funds to extend water lines 3,000 feet to the Hancock Water System west of the city. The small water district has 46 taps and is facing expensive upgrades to deal with radionuclides in its well water.
The connection would allow the district to blend water or tap into Rocky Ford’s system, Hyatt said.
"This will posture the city so that if other water companies locate to the west of the town and wish to purchase water from the city, then we will be in a position to where we can extend our waterlines to do that," Hyatt said.
He said construction on the project will start before Sept. 30.
Another project Hyatt reported was the completion of a new waste water lift station located at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds.
"It just simply needed to be replaced," he said.
The town also has a new chlorination/dechlorination disinfection facility at the wastewater treatment plant.
"As water exits the lagoon system, we inject chlorine into the effluent at that point to disinfect it. At the end of that process we inject chemicals to remove the chlorine," Hyatt said.
Mayor Mac Holder and Hyatt listed several other town upgrades in the works.
A new $1 million events center has been constructed at the fairgrounds.
"This is nice and new," Holder said. "It has made a huge difference at the fair."
Another project that Hyatt said was good for the town and the fair was repairing 25 adobe horse stables at the fairgrounds.
"They haven't been fixed since 1989," Holder said.
"Several volunteers from across the state helped us with this project including Juan Espinosa with The Pueblo Chieftain. He came down and put on classes on how to make adobe and we were really impressed with him," Hyatt said.
"We will continue to use those skills to finish all of the 80 stables," he said.
The town also is converting its trash system to an automated system to make it easier for workers.
Hyatt said that he and town council also are working to create an economic development office.
"We have purchased a building on North Main through a HUD grant and we have a construction crew rehabilitating the building. It will have office space for new businesses so it's going to be an arts and business incubator," Hyatt said.
"We are very excited about this project," Holder said.
The new facility will be state-of-the-art with a split-screen teleconference center, computers and other technical charms.
"It will be on the forefront of technology," Hyatt said.
Holder said that town favorite Crystal Lake will soon be up and running again.
Rocky Ford was given lakes previously owned by American Crystal Sugar. The lakes were constructed in the early 1900s to assist with the sugar plant.
The community has adopted the water pools for recreation and fishing.
Hyatt said that the lakes had to be drained to prove to the state that they were not intercepting ground water. The lakes have been dry for two years.
"We have proved that and we are running a few more tests before we get it going again. It's a very popular lake here where people fish and like to walk," Hyatt said.
Hyatt said that volunteers have refurbished old seats at the Grand Theater and made several other repairs to the town's only movie theater.
The town also is developing a community master plan with the state Department of Local Affairs.
"Rocky Ford is in the same boat with most of the Lower Arkansas Valley towns. It's an older community and most of the infrastructure has aged and we just got to the point where we had to upgrade," Hyatt said.
"We've just been busy with several projects to make our town a great place," Holder said.
Hyatt said that everything is coming to fruition because of the leadership of the town council, the utility board and the people of the community.
"We are just lucky. I mean a lot of communities wind up with a lot of political fighting and so forth over these things and that has not happened here," Hyatt said.
"We all want to make the community better and we will."
