By Matt Gleckman

Despite some unyielding opposition at last Tuesday’s school-board meeting, Cortez Parks and Recreation director Chris Burkett received the go-ahead to come up with a contract agreement which would grant the city a trail easement on Re-1 property.

Burkett said the easement, if awarded by the board, would run along the western edge of the Mesa Elementary School property and would be used to extend the non-motorized trail that the city hopes will someday circle Cortez.

According to Burkett, plans for the paved trail began roughly 10 years ago as one of the city’s long-range goals — a list of ideas intended to improve the safety and appearance of the area.

At the Dec. 14 Re-1 school-board meeting, Burkett asked board members if there was any possibility of obtaining the necessary easement.

Board members, however, refused to give any indication as to whether the easement would be granted until the city had received the approval of all other surrounding property owners.

"We don’t want to be used as a lever," said Re-1 board president Steve Hinton.

Despite the small setback, Burkett was able to gather the necessary landowners’ approval required by the board and is once again ready to move forward with planning.

"Recently, I spoke with all of the property owners who would be directly affected by the project and all of them are for it," Burkett said to the school board.

Even with support from the surrounding landowners, some school-board members still remain skeptical, as was indicated by last Tuesday’s close 4-3 vote. Concerns vocalized by the three board members opposed to the trail easement included the availability of additional parking, strangers loitering around the school and vandalism.

Along with these considerations, school board member Tina Galyon voiced her worries about the overall organization of the project.

"I don’t like the fact that construction is jumping from one side of town to the other," Galyon said, "I understand why they are doing it but I don’t like it.

"Also, it seems like very few people in the community know about the project. I don’t think that the trail is a bad idea but I think that if its going to happen it needs to be a large, organized project with the entire community involved," she said.

Mesa School Principal Brad Wayt, however, said that he is confident that the safety of students and school property would not be jeopardized by the trail and mentioned that staff parking would be his only genuine concern.

"As the school’s principal, I think that the idea of having a trail on school grounds is wonderful and will enhance the property and safety of the students," said Wayt. "The more people use a facility, the less likely it is to be vandalized or encounter other problems."

School board member Sue Baacke agreed, stating that she has been excited about the prospect of a trail around the city since she first heard the idea.

"I like the idea that there will be a safe place to stick kids on a bike and go for a five- or six-mile ride," Baacke said. "I also like the fact that the trail will border the school. It will supply kids with a place to go other than Main Street and it will give them a stronger connection to the community."

The next step, according to Burkett, will be to meet with landowners again, get the area surveyed and decide where the trail is likely to go, secure funding from the Colorado Department of Transportation and have land studies done to ensure that no archaeological, paleological, endangered-species or wetland damage will be done during construction.