The Cortez City Council has a busy agenda planned for its Tuesday meeting, including several local election issues and a visit from a state election candidate.
After a brief workshop starting at 6:30 p.m., the council will hold its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Seth Cagin, a candidate for the Democrat nomination to the 58th House District, will give a presentation as the meeting begins, followed by a public hearing in which the council will vote on the wording of a ballot question that will go before Cortez voters in the spring election.
Other items on the agenda include a streetlight installation that has been tabled twice, intergovernmental agreements with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Montezuma County Clerk’s office, resolutions that would govern access to the Conquistador Golf Course and more.
Cagin’s presentation will come after the Power to the Polls March in Cortez on Saturday, where he plans to speak along with Mayor Karen Sheek and other local dignitaries. In a letter addressed to the City Council, he said he hopes to help rural Coloradans “(find) common ground, regardless of our political affiliations or leanings, to work on those areas that affect us all.”
At its last meeting, the City Council approved a first reading of the municipal ballot question, which, if approved, would extend the sales tax that funds maintenance at the Cortez Recreation Center past its sunset date in 2021, while reducing it from 0.55 percent to 0.35 percent. On Tuesday’s meeting, the council will vote on whether to give final approval to the question’s wording.
Another election-related issue on the agenda is an intergovernmental agreement that will govern how the city works with the Montezuma County Clerk’s office in collecting ballots this year.
Council members will also vote on whether to install streetlights at two intersections on North Edith Street, a decision they have tabled twice in order to make sure residents on the street have been notified.
Another long-standing issue that could be resolved during the meeting is the regulation of access to Conquistador Golf Course. The council will vote on whether to approve an agreement that would allow golfers who live on the east side of the course to create their own neighborhood access. It will also vote on the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting unauthorized access to the course. Golfers have been working with the city to address problems created by unofficial course entrances since March 2017, when the neighborhood access regulation was proposed.
During the workshop before the regular meeting, council members will discuss the upcoming repairs to the Recreation Center’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, funding for this year’s Rural Philanthropy Days event in Cortez, and appointments to committees where council member Tim Miller served before his death in December.
Other agenda itemsApproval of an intergovernmental agreement with CDOT to receive funds for accessible sidewalk ramps on Main Street.An amendment to the proposed contract between the Montezuma-Cortez School District and the city.The first reading of an ordinance that would approve the official procedures for declaring an emergency.A resolution that would approve an emergency operations plan for Cortez.The re-appointment of Tom Rennick to the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Advisory Board.A boundary adjustment for property on 311 N. Broadway, belonging to Robinson Keith Pope.An agreement between the city and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to accept a $44,000 grant to pay the salary and training of an intern hired through the Cathy Shipley Best and Brightest program.
