Salt Creek Disputes 1960s-1990s | Pueblo

Sharon Villalon, executive director of HOPE Alive, said Salt Creek residents have complained to her agency that the lack of adequate public transportation remains among the neighborhood’s chief problems.

Laguna Street in Salt Creek floods after heavy rains.  Water is abundant in Salt Creek, with several springs that emanate from the nearby cliffs. Few people use wells these days, but flooding is getting worse.

Local residents say it is frustrating and discouraging to feel they are stranded outside the City.

3 clippings from unidentified Pueblo papers: (1) Citizens claim Community Organization-Outreach of Pueblo, an anti-poverty project, was slighting Salt Creek, Aug. 1, 1974; (2) Cooperation by Salt Creek residents tied to CO-OP aid in area, Dec. 11, 1974; (3) Salt Creek park opened, June 9, 1975

Residents of the Salt Creek community asked the county commissioners to improve and pave roads in the community—an issue that has been raised repeatedly for several years.  Louis Garcia, chairman of the Barrio de Salado Improvement Association, accused Road Commissioner Martin Moore of failing to meet past promises to pave roads in Salt Creek and of being a racist.

Grant given to the St. Charles Senior Citizens Association by the Colorado Commission on Aging, to be administered through the grant-aided Salt Creek Recreation Center.

Map of Salt Creek Water and Sanitation District, undated

County commissioners awarded $63,000 to Salt Creek Water and Sanitation District as part of the local matching funds for installation of a sanitary sewer system in the Salt Creek area.

City and county officials denied Thursday that they are dragging their feet in processing complaints about dilapidated buildings, outdoor privies and an open cistern in the Salt Creek area.

Complaint to the chief of the engineering section of the State Health Department led by Louis Garcia, chair of the 10-member local committee named by residents.  Chief engineer was to come with a chemist to make a laboratory test of the Salt Creek water supply.

Residents say water from well and pump house near Palo Alto and Laguna is not fit to drink or use to bathe.  The well, completed in 1968, is deep, but underground seepage from Salt Creek is causing problems. Salt Creek is visibly polluted with oils and chemicals from CF&I Steel Corp.  A recent water analysis undertaken by a microbiologist revealed major hazards. The private tests on the water began after residents failed to get action from the Pueblo City-County Health Department, who repeatedly said the water was good.