Cortez voters approve new sewer plant

Cortez voters approve new sewer plant

May 4, 2000

by Jim Mimiaga

Certain infrastructure necessities should never be taken for granted, especially those that flush.

Cortez residents acknowledged that fact Tuesday and overwhelmingly voted to raise the sanitation district mill-levy in order to finance a $10 million sewer plant capable of handling future development and the waste associated with it.

Voters lift revenue caps, term limits
Journal staff report

Voters were in a generous mood Tuesday, approving mill-levy increases, lifting revenue caps and revoking term limits every chance they got.

Besides a $10 million tax increase for the Cortez Sanitation District, voters also approved much smaller mill-levy increases for two small fire protection districts.

In the Lewis-Arriola Fire Protection District, residents approved a 2.0-mill increase in their property taxes. A proposal to increase the mill levy for the Mancos Fire Protection District by 3.017 mills passed by a margin of 98-45. A separate question asking voters to exempt the district from the revenue limitations of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment to the Colorado Constitution was passed by a similar margin, 98-40.

The Montezuma-Dolores County Metropolitan Recreation District — the agency that provides over-the-air programming to television viewers who don’t subscribe to cable — passed a similar deBrucing measure by a vote of 863-365.

Term limits were eliminated for directors in both fire districts. The margin passed by just five votes in Lewis-Arriola, 79-74, and by 24 in Mancos, 84-60. In terms of percentages, the margin was even tighter in the television district, with 616 voters in favor of doing away with term limits and 598 who wanted to retain them, and closer yet in the Montezuma Mosquito Control District, passing 569-562.

Despite their ambivalence about term limits, voters throughout the county re-elected every incumbent who was seeking to retain office. In the Mancos Fire Protection District, George H. Wagner earned 125 votes, Julio C. Archuleta garnered 128 and Charles L. Mitchell won 131. At Lewis-Arriola, Robert Lynn Gardner had 145, William C. Duncan had 126 and Robert D. Brubaker had 134. Mosquito Control District incumbent M.H. "Buddy" Leonard garnered 938, Eldon Simmons won 910 and Benny Gordanier collected 974. There were no challengers for any of those seats.

The television district did have a contested race, with three candidates seeking two seats. Voters returned both incumbents. Don Tullis earned 772 votes and Kenneth D. Dossey won 651, while John O’Brien Thomas was out of the running with 557.

A newcomer was elected to the Montezuma County Water District #1 board, possibly because incumbent Glenn Leighton dropped out at the last moment when he realized he no longer resided inside the district boundaries. Re-elected were Stan Pierce with 25 votes and Dave Everett with 29. Challenger Don Lien was the top vote-getter with 29; he will take a seat on the board. Another challenger, Lou Walk, received 13 votes.

The measure, which will raise property taxes levied by the Cortez Sanitation District by $871,846 annually, allows for the construction of a new, comprehensive plant that can handle collection and treatment demands expected with predicted growth for Cortez.

General obligation bonds, backed by the tax increase, will be issued to finance the project. Under the terms approved by voters, the maximum repaid after interest cannot exceed $17.3 million. The bonds will not be sold on the open market; rather they are provided for by a low interest (4.5 percent) Colorado fund set up to assist municipalities in need of loans if a mill-levy can support it.

The new facility, approved by a 416 to 190 vote, will consolidate three separate plants — now in operation but nearing capacity — into a single operation. It will be located at the site of the current, soon-to-be-dismantled southwest plant, which sits south of Cortez off South Broadway near McElmo Creek.

"The citizens have made a good decision for their future," said Bill Smith, district manager for the sanitation district. "Now we need to start discussions on the financial structuring for the project, and the board has to decide on a design engineer. The design requires approval by the state health department."

Two of the plants, the north and south, will be removed and replaced with pump stations, Smith said. Once the new plant is constructed and on-line, waste-water flows will be redirected away from the old plants. Gravity-fed, sewer collection pipes will be preserved where possible, he said, or directed through the two lift stations to reach the new facility.

"I’m sure that we will get things started just as quick as possible on the new plant," said George (G.W.) McCutcheon, who was elected to serve a four-year term on the Cortez Sanitation District board. "This will be our number one goal right now."

The project will likely take 2-3 years to complete, McCutcheon said.

"This is great news," said Cortez City Manager Hal Shepherd. "I’m glad the community supported the measure; it is critical for future growth that we face."

Economic development would stall without more sewer taps than are currently available, Shepherd said, adding that it was just a matter of time before Cortez was crossed off the list of potential businesses and construction companies interested in the area.

"The lack of capacity was going to impact our business and industrial development that require sewers and taps," he said. "It is kind of hard to plan ahead if there is no infrastructure to go with it. If you can’t flush, then you’re in trouble."

The ballot also featured a contest for seats on the Cortez sanitation board. The election results left two incumbents out of a job, brought in one for another term, and introduced two challengers.

Incumbents Dan Belt (289 votes) and Arnold Hampson (269 votes) were voted out of office Tuesday, overcome by challengers McCutcheon and Bob Diederich who attracted 437 and 383 votes, respectively. Incumbent Stan Pierce was voted in to serve another term, garnering 318 votes. The winning candidates will serve four-year terms.