Residents of the Paradise Village subdivision vented frustrations last week about delayed progress of the major water, sewer and roads overhaul of the neighborhood, and city officials pledged to improve communication about updates going forward.

Streets in the neighborhood off East Empire were ripped up in June as new water and sewer mains and lines were being installed. Announcing the project in March, the city pegged October as the end date. Public works director Phil Johnson and assistant city engineer Kathryn Phillips explained the underground portion of the project, as well as the installation of curbs and gutters will be completed by the contract deadline of Nov. 13.

However, asphalt paving of the roads – aside from Brookside Drive, which will be paved by deadline – will likely have to wait until spring, as batch plants close when average temperatures drop below 50 degrees.

The news of an extended project wasn’t welcome to one property owner, who explained that he’s lost an offer on a home for sale near the staging area on Aldridge Road because buyers don’t want to be near the construction.

“I think this project has been very poorly planned and the communication has been sugar-coated,” he said.

Most residents in attendance expressed understanding that the project is taking a year to complete, as opposed to the five-month schedule that was pitched to them at the start, but they also urged the city to provide more comprehensive updates than periodic fliers and doorhangers.

“I’m grateful this project is taking place, and I get life – I have a 7-year-old, I know things happen – but I think the most frustrating part of this is not being communicated with, when we had to read about what’s happening in the newspaper before we heard it from you,” said Brookside resident Kelly Unrein.

The contractor for the project – a joint effort of the Cortez Sanitation District and the city of Cortez – is Redpoint Contracting of Denver.

Paradise Village was selected for the overhaul because of its aging infrastructure.