City and county leaders got together Tuesday night for cross-jurisdictional issues including city construction fees for the new county courthouse building, the future of the Justice Center and county landfill charge increases in 2016.
Montezuma County is moving forward with its plans to construct a 27,500-square-foot administration building and courthouse at the southwest corner of Park and Driscoll streets. Commissioners posed the question of whether the city could waive the fees for water taps, building code and inspection fees that the county will incur for the project.
County officials understood there was an intergovernmental agreement with the city about waiving all fees associated with new construction projects. As it stands now, the courthouse project is estimated to cost $7.5 million. County administrator Melissa Brunner said the county was negotiating its grant contract with the Department of Local Affairs, as well as the size and final budget. Based on the estimated size and scope, the city is projecting the county will owe the city $32,500 in building permit and plan review fees. Tap fees, ranging from $6,667 for a 1-inch tap and $21,341 for a 2-inchs tap will also be levied.
“We’re here tonight to see if council will take into consideration a reduction in fees or some type of prorated deal. ... Everyone is going to benefit from this building – it’s going to alleviate a lot of judicial problems,” said commissioner Keenan Ertel.
City officials seemed fairly adamant that the fees shouldn’t be waived, unless there was some area that the county could also cut the city a break on.
Waiving impact fees to incentivize economic development in the Cortez Industrial Park was discussed as an option, as well as reducing the landfill fees charged to the city.
The county has yet to finalize its 2016 budget, but is expecting to raise landfill fees by roughly 10 percent in 2016. City manager Shane Hale said the city spent $305,000 on landfill charges in 2015.
“You mentioned that the permit fees for the courthouse were a lot, well an extra $30,000 a year on the landfill is a lot,” said mayor pro-tem Ty Keel.
Justice Center
Once the new courthouse is constructed, the old Justice Center will need a tenant, and commissioners questioned what the city would like to see done with the building.
The two entities shared ownership of the Justice Center in the mid-1990s, but the county traded the airport property to the city for the Justice Center. The city still owns and maintains the land around the center, but the county owns the building.
Ertel noted the county has been approached by the Bridge Shelter, Montezuma County Housing Authority and the Piñon Project about using the space for affordable housing or a detox center, but questioned whether the location was appropriate for such services.
“I don’t like the idea of having a detox center or homeless shelter in the middle of our park system, in the heart of the city, but that’s probably the closest thing that will work for us,” said Ertel.
