Members of the Pikes Peak Regional Stormwater Task Force vowed to continue toward a regional solution for the $900 million problem during a Phase II kickoff meeting Thursday.

The work came despite the ongoing difficulty of getting regional agreement on the issue, with Colorado Springs examining other alternatives.

The group’s goals are to prioritize stormwater projects and identify funding to pay for the $906 million estimated cost of projects in the region.

READ MORE: City moving forward with stormwater work

Absent from the meeting were Colorado Springs city staffers, some of whom were scheduled to present information.

“This is a difficult, fairly charged issue,” said county commissioner Amy Lathen, who led the meeting along with Colorado Springs City Council member Brandy Williams. “We’re going to barrel on through.”

The event drew 50 people, including business representatives, county politicians, military officials, and officials from Manitou Springs and Fountain.

Williams said she’s excited about the task force moving forward with a regional approach and with representatives from across the community.

The task forces estimates that Colorado Springs needs nearly $687 million in stormwater work — 76 percent of the region’s stormwater problem.

Mayor Steve Bach has said his idea to pay for stormwater projects is to have public-owned Utilities shoulder the brunt of the $687 million.

“We want to have an open, honest, transparent conversation about it,” Lathen said. “If it’s Utilities’ responsibility, let’s talk about it.”

Richard Skorman, a Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District board member, noted the absence of city staffers.

“I’m very concerned city staff is not here, and the mayor is not here,” Skorman said. “If we’re going to do something, we all have to be on board.”

Helen Migchelbrink, the city’s Public Works Director, co-chaired the regional stormwater task force the last few months. She said the absent city staff was “involved in some other city priorities, but we support the county in their effort to look at stormwater needs.”

Mike Anderson of Summit Economics said his group spent “the better part of a year” looking at how stormwater needs should be funded. The three best options explained in the group’s white paper are a Regional Stormwater Enterprise, a county mill levy or sales and use tax, or a mill levy assessed through the Fountain Creek Watershed district.

The paper also suggested an independent review and assessment of the resources to determine if money can “realistically be reallocated” for stormwater needs.

“That’s the 800-pound elephant in the room,” Anderson said. “Can money be found, can money be reallocated?”

Stormwater drainage isn’t a sexy subject, Skorman said, but residents will want to know what was done to prevent a disaster, especially since the Waldo Canyon burn scar increases the likelihood of flash flooding.

“When they shut down Highway 24 for two weeks during the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and it hurts our economy, people will want to know,” Skorman said.