By David Grant Long

The fireworks at Tuesday’s Cortez city council meeting came not, as expected, during the discussion of a new ordinance that will require all cats to be licensed, but following the donation of a parcel of land to the city by Councilman Bob Diederich.

After the 4-2 vote (Diederich recused himself) to accept the third-acre along the Montezuma Irrigation Company ditchbank in northeast Cortez as parkland, the obviously angry councilman approached the podium to lambaste Councilwoman Darlene Denison, saying he was "sick and tired" of her non-stop and unfair criticism of city officials and staff and her questioning their honesty and competency ever since she was elected 17 months ago.

Denison had also thrown a monkey wrench into Diederich’s previous attempt to give the parcel to the city at a special meeting called to address that specific item on Sept. 20. She maintained the plat of the property was incorrect even though it had been done by a registered surveyor, and the matter was tabled.

Reading from a prepared statement, Diederich charged that Denison has turned council meetings into marathons "with her constant picking at things and reading part of something and not the entire thing.

"She has told council they don’t know the code book or the land-use regulations, so how can they intelligently vote on some of the items that come before us," he said. "She does not understand what home-rule cities are allowed to do under state law and is constantly addressing items according to law or code as she interprets it."

And, he added, "... she would not accept my word that I owned the property, so this puts me in the ‘lying’ category, too."

Diederich said although he wasn’t familiar with Denison’s formal education, he doubted it included schooling in law, engineering or public administration.

"The one thing she must have is a doctorate degree in how to insult and belittle people," he declared, apologizing to the other council members for breaking a pledge they had all made at a retreat not to publicly attack one another.

Denison, who along with Mayor Pro Tem Fred Torres voted against the property donation, responded that she was sorry if she’d offended Diederich, but said she still had some serious concerns about the plat.

Torres, who lives along the ditchbank and has erected a gate across it on his property to limit public access, said he was opposed to taking Diederich’s parcel off the tax rolls because the city had no immediate plans for its use. The small tract generates about $35 in property taxes annually, according to Zoning Inspector Jeff Reinhart.

Former councilman Jim Herrick, who has clashed with Torres in the past over the public’s historic use of the right-of-way, excoriated the mayor pro tem anew during the public-comment period, saying his negative vote was "the most disgusting display of self-interest I’ve ever see."

"That’s just your opinion," Torres retorted.

Mayor Joe Keck said the land donation would not necessarily be considered part of the city’s future trail system and could be used as a pocket park instead. An attempt to adopt the ditchbank, long used as a hiking and biking trail by nearby residents, as the first part of the city’s trail system was met with considerable opposition two years ago, and the effort was dropped. The opponents claimed that enhancing the trail with paving and landscaping would increase its use, decrease their privacy and encourage petty property crime by trail denizens.

In other business, to the council’s surprise, no irate cat owners showed up to protest a new ordinance that will require all felis catus domestica living within the city limits to be vaccinated against rabies and licensed by the city. (Dogs are already required to be vaccinated and licensed.)

In fact, Chief Roy Lane, who proposed the ordinance, and Andrea Jeter, who manages the municipal animal shelter, were the only ones to speak in favor of the ordinance, and no one expressed opposition.

Lane explained that rabies inoculations for both dogs and cats are mandated by state law. He said the purpose of the ordinance, along with encouraging pet owners to get their cats protected, was to demonstrate that the city had taken proactive measures to prevent a rabies outbreak if an issue of liability comes up.

The chief said he couldn’t recall an incidence of rabies in a dog or cat in Cortez in recent times, but pointed out rabid animals have been found in the county, and that skunks, which also contract the deadly disease, often come into town to feast on pet food.

An additional benefit of the revamped regulations, he explained, will be that licenses can now be obtained at the pound, which makes it more convenient when adopting animals, rather than by going to various departments at city hall.