Capital Development Committee deadlocks on Fort Lyon heating design supplemental after divisive debate

The Capital Development Committee was unable to recommend a $796,840 supplemental to fund design work for a replacement heating system at the Fort Lyon supportive residential community, resulting in a 3‑3 tie after a motion to reconsider and a final recorded vote.

Kristin Toombs, deputy director for the Division of Housing in the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), told the committee the Fort Lyon campus in Bent County houses about 230 adults in a recovery‑oriented transitional program and that the campus steam heating system "continues to get worse and is now at a point of being an emergency with high risk for life and safety," citing multiple leaks and system components that date back decades.

Toombs said DOLA has been working with the governor's office, OEDIT and the Office of the State Architect and that the department previously requested emergency controlled maintenance funds to replace the steam condensate tank. State Architect Hannah Lane told the committee the condensate tank replacement is being funded from the emergency controlled maintenance fund at $98,356, including installation.

Committee members pressed staff on why the department was seeking a full project appropriation up front rather than first funding design. The Office of the State Architect and DOLA said long lead times for boilers and HVAC equipment (more than 52 weeks) motivated a concurrent approach: design and early procurement planning in parallel to avoid ordering delays once a final system choice is made. Lane said the design phase for the investigation would take about six months.

Members objected to the process and to precedent. Several members said they were sympathetic to the life‑safety urgency but concerned that moving money out of the Level 1 controlled maintenance list and advancing a large, undefined supplemental would set a problematic precedent. After debate, Representative Lindsay moved to recommend $796,840 from supplemental funds for the design work and to remove the same amount from the Level 1 controlled maintenance request. That motion passed on an initial recorded vote but members later made and won a motion to reconsider. On the final recorded vote the recommendation failed on a 3 to 3 vote (Senator Hendrickson, Representative Lindsay and the chair voted yes; Senator Pelton, Representative Winter and Senator Mullica voted no).

The department also told the committee it is still evaluating alternatives, including electric boilers and geothermal options, and that any final full replacement project cost estimate would follow the planned design and feasibility work. DOLA said an earlier, larger figure mentioned during the discussion (about $35,000,000) represents a possible total project scale depending on the alternative selected, but the committee emphasized the need for a clearly defined design and budget before committing large supplemental funds.