More than a decade after local boarders first requested a home of their own, the Cortez city council finally acted to build one Tuesday, approving a $119,000 bid for construction of a long-awaited skateboard park in Parque de Vida.

"It will be great to get them off the streets downtown," Mayor Joe Keck said.

The park’s design was completed late last summer, but local cement contractors were pretty well booked up, said Ed Hallam, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, so a decision was made to wait until spring to advertise for bids.

Still, out of the five bid packets issued, only one —Elite Contractors — returned a bid, which was just under the $120,000 that had been allocated for the project.

Since most skateboard parks are unique in design and challenging to pour, Hallam said, most contractors don’t want to touch such projects. He said work will probably begin within a month and will take about three months to complete.

"The kids are going to be our biggest critics," he said. "They’ll be there from the first pour to make sure the concrete is right for them."

Although Elite has done no other projects for the city, it did the concrete work as a subcontractor on the recently completed trail that runs to the Carpenter Natural Area, he said, and that work was satisfactory.

In other business, the council:

• Presented the Kenneth Wilson family with a plaque in appreciation for its 66 years of outstanding retail service to the community at Wilson’s Pharmacy, which recently closed its doors.

"We appreciate everything you, your father and extended family have done for Cortez over the years," Keck said to Ken Wilson.

• Approved an amended contract to fund the new building for the Children’s Kiva preschool. The Department of Local Affairs increased its grant from $260,000 to $300,000, City Manager Hal Shepherd explained, and Kiva has already secured the necessary additional matching funds, so no city money is involved.

• Approved a five-year agreement for banking services with Vectra Bank.

Finance Director Cathi Moss told the council that although for the first time in 15 years all three local banks submitted proposals offering free basic services, Vectra Bank, which has been the only one to submit proposals in the past, also offered a wider array of additional services.

She said Vectra’s service has been extremely spotty because of computer glitches last year after ownership changed from Valley National Bank, but has since "vastly improved."

• Gave final approval to a $300,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs that will partially fund the expansion of the Cortez Library.

• Hired Treasure Auction Service to conduct an auction in May to get rid of surplus equipment and materials that city departments have accumulated since the last one several years ago.

General Services Director Rick Smith said the company, which offered the lowest commission rate of the four submitting proposals, had done a good job of managing and advertising the auction in the past.