Cortez City Council members have nixed a two-phase plan to renovate the Cortez City Hall building after bids for the project came in more than $100,000 over budget.

Cortez City Manager Hal Shepherd recommended to city council that it drop the plan after the lowest bid for the first phase came in at $480,000, $140,000 over budget.

Shepherd said that the building contractors did not feel that the project’s architect realistically gauged the cost of such renovations.

Rick Smith, general-services director for Cortez, said bids for the project were opened on April 18. The low bid came from Hensen Construction Company of Dolores and the second bid came from the Sarcon company of Santa Fe, N.M., Smith said.

Shepherd said that city council decided to put a stop to the project some time last month.

"We have decided to do nothing for now and we will start saving money for some kind of future city-hall development," Shepherd said on Tuesday.

Shepherd said that if the project had been approved by council, renovations during the first phase would have included adding new bathrooms, windows, lighting and air-conditioning to the building’s interior. The first phase also included updating the wiring, adding handicapped access to the west side of the building and a number of cosmetic improvements.

Phase Two of the project, estimated at over $1 million, would have involved removing the building’s east wing and adding new council chambers on the main level as well as installing a new handicapped access to the basement, Shepherd said.