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KSJD Newscast - April 13th, 2016

  • City of Cortez awarded $2 million for its renovation of the former Cortez Journal building to become the new city hall.
  • Cortez City Council votes unanimously to send a letter to the Bureau of Land Management supporting a master leasing plan.

The City of Cortez has been awarded $2 million from the state Department of Local Affairs toward its renovation of the former Cortez Journal building to become the new city hall. The monies are from the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance program, which is funded by mineral extraction. Cortez is also receiving a $25,000 state energy-impact grant toward the development of a hydraulic model of the city’s water-distribution system. At Tuesday’s city-council meeting, public works director Phil Johnson said the project will facilitate maintenance and help protect water quality. The council voted to award a contract for $60,000 to SGM Incorporated of Glenwood Springs to do the work.

Also on Tuesday, the Cortez City Council voted unanimously to send a letter to the Bureau of Land Management supporting a master leasing plan to guide energy development on some public lands in Montezuma County. The vote followed a lengthy discussion that included questions about the MLP’s cost and scope. City Manager Shane Hale said the council had received a half-dozen letters regarding the plan, some in favor and some opposed. Hale told the council that in supporting the MLP, they would not be saying what provisions the plan might include, only that one should be written.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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