Cortez council to weigh planning contract, housing sign-off

The Cortez City Council meets Tuesday, October 13, with a contract award for the next stage of the city’s comprehensive plan, a request to sign off on an affordable rental development on city-owned land at the former high school, and two public hearings on its agenda.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: City of Cortez agenda packet, October 13, 2026

Council will consider awarding the 2026 Comprehensive Plan Update — covering the plan’s strategic growth and water supply elements — to Sno-Engineering, Inc., which does business as SE Group. Staff recommend accepting the firm’s bid of $44,050 and authorising the city manager to negotiate and sign the contract. Four firms responded to the request for proposals: Capital Consulting Services LLC, Sno-Engineering, KLJ Engineering LLC and Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. The staff memo in the agenda packet says the bids were close to one another and under the cap set in the request for proposals, and puts the project’s estimated cost at $45,000, with $33,700 coming from a state grant and a 25 percent city match of $11,250. The packet does not list the other three firms’ prices.

A second item asks council to authorise Mayor Dennis Spruell to sign a Colorado Housing and Finance Authority notification form for Park Village on 7th, described in the packet as a proposed affordable rental development on city-owned land at the former high school property. The form is a notification to the local jurisdiction; the packet does not give a unit count, a developer or a street address.

Two public hearings

Council will hold a public hearing on a new tavern liquor licence for Junction Enterprises LLC, doing business as The Junction, at 309 N. Broadway. The Cortez Current reported on that application in September; Tuesday is the hearing on it.

The second hearing is the second reading of Ordinance 1377, Series 2026, which would designate 209 W. Main St. as historic and add it to the City Register of Historic Resources.

Also on the agenda

Ordinance 1371, Series 2026 would revise the part of the city code covering annual licensing for mobile food vendors; the agenda does not say which reading it is at. Council will also consider cancelling its December 22 meeting because of the holiday, and appoint two of its members to the Community Support Grant Selection Committee.

The consent agenda — approved in a single motion unless a member asks for an item to be pulled — holds the minutes of the September 22 meeting, the expenditure list for October 13, a beer and wine licence and outdoor dining agreement for ZU Gallery at 48 W. Main St., and a renewal of the tavern licence for Cortez Veterans, Inc. at 320 N. Harrison.

The agenda closes with an executive session on negotiations concerning the possible sale of city-owned real estate.

Before the meeting

A work session begins at 5:30 p.m. with a tour of the Cortez Fire Protection District, followed by general council discussion at 7:10 p.m. The work session agenda also lists, for council’s information, the minutes of the Montezuma County commissioners’ meetings of September 15, 22 and 29.

The regular meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 123 Roger Smith Ave., and is live-streamed on the city’s website and its YouTube channel.

There are two public participation periods. Speakers register with an “Intent to Speak” card available outside the chambers and get three minutes each; the first period is capped at 30 minutes overall, and comment on an item that is itself on the agenda is taken when that item comes up rather than in the general period. Written comments can be emailed to councilcomments@cortezco.gov by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting, mailed to 123 Roger Smith Ave., Cortez, CO 81321, or delivered in person.

Source: the city’s October 13 regular meeting agenda, work session agenda and agenda packet.