The Cortez Welcome Center and three other local agencies will benefit from a $300,000 energy impact grant awarded Friday by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA).

Bob Brooks, director of the Department of Local Affairs and an ex-La Plata County administrator and commissioner, was on hand Friday at the Welcome Center to present officials with a letter of intent.

Kristine Acott, director of the Cortez Chamber of Commerce, said the grant money will be used to make renovations and additions to the already existing Welcome Center building, located at 928 E. Main Street.

"This will allow the staff of the Montezuma County Economic Development Council (MCEDC), the Cortez Chamber of Commerce, the Cortez Welcome Center and the Umbrella Tourism Council to all work together under the same roof," said Acott.

Discussions regarding the idea of a co-location for the four organizations began in 1998 and included a space-need study conducted between September and December of last year.

"Right now the MCEDC and the Umbrella Tourism Council are both located in the Johnson Building," Acott said. "By having all of the offices together, our customers won’t have to go all the way to the other end of town for services — it will be one-stop shopping."

Acott said that the renovations will also cut down on the overlapping of similar services and will allow the groups to better communicate as well as to share office supplies, equipment and utility costs, thereby improving efficiency.

"Some people were concerned that that these organizations would be combining," said Acott. "But this is not true — all four groups will remain separate entities."

Shepherd said that the entire project is estimated at $640,000. The city will loan the welcome center the $340,000 balance which will be paid back at 5 percent interest, he said.

"A bed tax will be added to the cost of staying in hotels and motels around the area in order to pay off the loan over an eight to ten year period," said Shepherd.

"This is a little convoluted, but it means that the addition will be paid for by the people who use it rather than the people who live in town," he said.

The energy impact grant, which was applied for in January by a conglomeration of private and city organizations, is made available to rural communities who rely heavily on energy resources such as oil and gas for their revenue.

There are a number of criteria that must be met before being awarded the grant, Acott said.

"Because a large portion of Cortez’s revenue does come from oil and gas, and because the possibility of a national monument could change that, the city was able to obtain the grant for us," she said.

In an April 3 telephone conversation with the county commissioners, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said that oil and gas drilling and carbon-dioxide extraction would be allowed under a new monument.

"We’ve talked a lot about the carbon-dioxide reserves out there, and I’ve said consistently that any recommendation I make to the president will be consistent with the production and utilization of that CO2 resource," Babbitt said.

Cortez City Manager Hal Shepherd said that two major selling points allowed the city to unanimously obtain the grant.

"When we went before the board, we emphasized the (proposed) monument status (of the McElmo Dome area) and the fact that Shell CO2 was up for sale and is responsible for 30 percent of the counties income," said Shepherd.

Shepherd said that in order to fill job vacancies and build a better economy, it is important to be able introduce potential businesses owners to Bill Argo, the director of the Montezuma County Economic Development Council.

"Trying to send them across town to the old hospital and then making them search around the basement for his office isn’t very helpful," he said.

A preliminary design shows that the renovation will nearly double the square footage of the already existing building. Offices for the economic development and tourism directors and assistant directors will be accommodated for and an elevator and parking lot will be added.

"The number one complaint that we hear from visitors to the welcome center is that there is no place to park around the building and you have to cross dangerous intersections in order to get to it," Acott said. "During the summer this is downright dangerous."