Trinidad weighs growth costs as aging sewer system strains budget

Trinidad’s next wave of growth is running straight into an aging sewer system, a tightening code deadline and a city budget that already has little room for surprises. At a lengthy May 11 work session and special meeting, Trinidad City Council members unanimously approved a temporary halt on new gaming proposals while they wrestled with how to keep development moving without pushing residents, builders and taxpayers into higher costs.

The immediate pressure is coming from state mandates and the city’s own infrastructure. Trinidad has until June 30 to update its building rules under state wildfire and energy legislation, and Colorado granted the city a one-year waiver on May 1 to build an implementation plan showing how it will comply. Council members are weighing whether to adopt the state wildfire resiliency code or the 2024 International Wildland Urban Interface Code, a choice that will shape how much local flexibility Trinidad keeps over future construction. Fire Chief David Bacharach said the international code would fit Trinidad’s existing building framework better and leave more discretion in local hands.

That debate is landing at a time when Trinidad already follows the 2018 International Building Code and the 2018 International Existing Building Code, according to the city’s own code. The city also says its public utilities cover electric, gas, water and sewer service, and its water system depends on North Lake as the primary source and Monument Lake as the secondary source, with water carried about 40 miles to the treatment plant before entering the city system. Those are not abstract details in a growing town; they are the systems that determine whether new homes can be served, whether businesses can open on time and whether utility bills stay manageable.

The sewer side of the equation is just as pressing. Trinidad’s code already sets rules for prohibited discharges, service extensions and connection requirements, but a bid document for the Church Street project shows how much maintenance and growth are now overlapping in the same ground: water line replacement, sanitary sewer rehabilitation, storm sewer replacement, sidewalks, pavement, electrical vaults, conduit, ADA improvements and brick pavers all appear in one package. That is the household cost of growth in Trinidad, where the city’s projected 2026 budget is just under $80 million and municipal services are provided by 165 full-time equivalent employees.

Earlier budget planning put a number on the challenge. Trinidad expected $26.65 million in capital improvement plan revenues for 2026, including $2.5 million from local sales tax, $20.48 million from federal grants and $2.66 million from state grants. The gaming freeze, the code fight and the sewer backlog now sit in the same ledger, and the people likely to feel the first pressure are homeowners waiting on repairs, developers waiting on permits and ratepayers who will ultimately help pay for the city’s next round of fixes.