Indian Hills hits ground running

After being selected to lead the Indian Hills General Improvement District board, newly elected trustee Dianne Humble presented a proposal to contract out sewer and water services.

Humble said the proposal by SPB Utility Services to operate the services could save money and make the utility operations more efficient.

The firm contracts with Douglas County to provide an operator for the North Valley Wastewater Treatment Facility and China Spring Wastewater Facility.

Humble also called for a salary freeze and reduction in the district's overtime in an effort to balance the books.

She suggested charging out-of-district fees to those areas that are served by the district, but are inside the redevelopment guide.

Humble, who served on the board for four years starting in 2000, was elected the new chairwoman of the board after winning re-election in 2008.

She presented 18 points she would like to see the district tackle, running the gamut from taking down the trustee's photos on the walls and replacing them with the employees, to the justification for the district's ownership of a dump truck.

"That truck needs to be sold," she said. "I've seen an attitude here of 'can't be done.' I want that attitude to be turned around to 'we can.'"

She said her final point was a dream, to see windmills installed on district property to generate electricity for the sewer and water plant.

Humble said she looked over the list of issues prepared by new manager Jim Taylor and agreed with most of the items.

Taylor's list includes finding a way to keep the district in the black and to work on reducing the arsenic in the district's water supply.

Indian Hills is under deadline to find a way to reduce its arsenic down to the 10 parts per billion limit under federal law. It was under the previous 50 parts per billion limit.

Other proposals will appear on tonight's agenda, including billing homeowners rather than tenants for sewer and water and a presentation on Humble's plan to contract out water and sewer services.