- Montezuma County Commissioners have second thoughts about refusing to participate in BLM's Master Leasing Plan process.
- City of Cortez set to purchase Cortez Journal building for $2.9 million.
The Montezuma County commissioners are reconsidering their position on a planning process proposed by the Bureau of Land Management. The commissioners had previously indicated they would not take part in the Master Leasing Plan effort, which is intended to closely analyze energy development in much of Montezuma County as well as western La Plata County. But on Monday, they voted to approve a letter to the agency’s state director saying they are willing to take part in the process if eight conditions are met. The conditions include having the BLM publicly disclosure at the start of each meeting how much the process is costing; documentation from the agency of which groups pushed it to do the plan; and a promise that the BLM will reveal its recommendations to the county commissioners before going public with them. The letter says the county wants to be reasonable about working with federal agencies and the conservation/ environmental community. However, the letter also states, the commissioners are “frankly exasperated with the conservation /environmental community” and how it appears to be ”able to usurp the democratic process and do an end run around our local elected officials by crying and whining until the BLM caves in to their demands.”
In other news, the city of Cortez is planning to buy the Journal newspaper building at 123 Roger Smith Avenue for a price of nearly $3 million. The Journal reports that the city will use the 25,000-square-foot structure as its new City Hall, replacing the small and aging building at Ash and Main streets downtown. The Journal moved to its current location in 2002. Since then, Ballantine Communications, which owns the Journal, has shuttered two smaller papers and dismantled its printing presses. The Journal reports that it will be looking for a smaller home.
