{"id":23017,"date":"2025-03-24T17:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/community-voices-federal-concerns-at-coffee-with-the-county-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:23:14","slug":"community-voices-federal-concerns-at-coffee-with-the-county-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/community-voices-federal-concerns-at-coffee-with-the-county-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"Community voices federal concerns at Coffee with the County in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nearly
Nearly 50 community members attended the monthly Coffee with the County meeting on Monday, March 24. Conversation largely centered on actions happening at the federal level. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Roughly 50 community members showed up to Monday morning\u2019s Coffee with the County on Monday after it circulated online as a platform to demonstrate local support of public lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoin local residents who are concerned about the future of local public lands \u2026 with Montezuma County elected officials,\u201d an email from the League of Women Voters of Montezuma County read. \u201cWe would like to get their support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coffee with the County is a monthly event, and it\u2019s a chance for locals to meet with the three Montezuma County commissioners and county administrator in a conversational way.<\/p>\n

Attendees ask them questions directly or raise concerns at the off-camera gathering in their board room at 109 W. Main St.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s typically a county department head present, too, to provide an update on what\u2019s going on in their respective department. This month, Montezuma County Fairgrounds Manager Justin McGuire joined the meeting.<\/p>\n

McGuire\u2019s update was a brief beginning to the 90-minute meeting that largely focused on concerns with the federal government.<\/p>\n

McGuire reminded people to check the fairgrounds calendar<\/a>, as it\u2019s updated with the \u201cgauntlet\u201d of spring shows coming up, like the Four Corners Home & Garden Show the weekend of April 4 and the Cortez Gun Show, April 11 to 13.<\/p>\n

He added that what used to be a roughly $2,000 monthly electric bill is now $400, thanks to solar panels on the indoor arena\u2019s roof.<\/p>\n

The rest of the meeting was open for public comments and concerns.<\/p>\n

County officials\u2019 trip to D.C.<\/div>\n

A community member started by asking about Commissioner Jim Candelaria and Administrator Travis Anderson\u2019s recent trip to Washington, D.C. They wondered how the meeting went with Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd of the 3rd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Candelaria said they spoke about the soon-to-be-reintroduced National Conservation Area designation for the Dolores River, which Hurd supports.<\/p>\n

In regards to protecting public lands more generally, Candelaria said that wasn\u2019t a conversation they had but that public lands in Montezuma County are public, and it\u2019s intended to stay that way.<\/p>\n

To illustrate the point, Candeleria brought up the Free Land Holder Committee\u2019s fence on U.S. Forest Service land outside Mancos, and how citizens removed it in October.<\/p>\n

As far as drilling on public lands \u2013 a concern someone had since Hurd supports it \u2013 Candelaria said how, if there\u2019s \u201cvalid and existing right,\u201d people are allowed to mine, even if it\u2019s within something like a National Conservation Area.<\/p>\n

He went on to say how \u201cpublic lands are critical to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montezuma County is 72.5% public lands, and it gets 48 cents per acre for those lands \u2013 which is \u201cunheard-of\u201d but still helpful, Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

That money comes from payments in lieu of taxes, which are \u201cfederal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries,\u201d according to the state\u2019s Department of Local Affairs website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Secure Rural Schools money \u2013 another topic of discussion with Hurd \u2013 brings in just under $250,000 to the county annually \u201cthrough timber receipts and other leasing activities within national forests,\u201d according to the aforementioned website.<\/p>\n

Of that money, 25% is set aside for schools, 25% for the road department and the remaining 50% is \u201cdiscretionary.\u201d Last year, that discretionary half went toward catching up on road projects, Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

This year, it\u2019s supposed to go toward the schools, but first, \u201creauthorizations need to happen\u201d at the federal level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t even had conversations with the schools yet,\u201d Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

Candelaria said Medicaid was a topic the whole delegation discussed.<\/p>\n

Essentially, there\u2019s a need to mitigate bureaucracy within Medicaid: \u201cWhat can we do to get the money to where it needs to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that \u201crural hospitals around America are a big deal\u201d and that the county has supported our local hospital.<\/p>\n

On the topic of bureaucracy, Commissioner Gerald Koppenhafer said, \u201cSay what you want, this system is broke.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, last year, of the more than $1 million in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits the county paid out, it spent $345,000 on labor and adhering to the many regulations to distribute it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be some change,\u201d Koppenhafer said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t cost that much to help people, and that\u2019s just in this little county.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several times, Candelaria said the goal is to \u201cpull back the reigns\u201d and be more efficient overall, mitigating bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the same position as a county,\u201d Candelaria said. \u201cWe have to cut back also.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that might mean reduced services, he said, because there\u2019s not enough money to pay for it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we only have control in our county, and that\u2019s it,\u201d Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

Someone questioned whether any funding for our county is tied up or eliminated.<\/p>\n

Administrator Anderson explained how state and federal funding works differently. State funding, he said, is continuing as normal.<\/p>\n

As far as federal funding goes, Anderson said a takeaway he had from D.C. was \u201cdon\u2019t jump the gun or worry\u201d because the money will come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing that\u2019ll happen is that we might have to reapply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Locally, there\u2019s a $167,000 federal reimbursement for a Sheriff\u2019s Office Taser grant they\u2019re waiting on, which \u201ctakes time because it\u2019s the federal government,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

Overall, Candelaria said that Hurd \u201cseemed open to our issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said to \u201ccome to us,\u201d meaning the commissioners, with specific concerns because Hurd and our other representatives are likely getting thousands of calls every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a better chance of getting through to them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone can get to us. We\u2019re your representatives, it\u2019s easier for us to get contact with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of May, they invited Hurd to a Board to Board Meeting that happens every quarter or so between the county, its municipalities and the tribe, though it\u2019s \u201chard for him to attend all the meetings he\u2019s invited to.\u201d At the very least, a staffer might go.<\/p>\n

Local, large-scale solar<\/div>\n

Toward the end of the meeting, the conversation switched gears and focused on large-scale solar.<\/p>\n

The county is talking about putting a moratorium on such developments, and will have a public hearing about the moratorium at its regularly scheduled Board of County Commissioner\u2019s meeting on April 8.<\/p>\n

An attendee who said she works in the energy sector said she\u2019s seen six-month moratoriums \u2013 which they\u2019re proposing \u2013 turn into six years, which means lost revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just blocking it to block it,\u201d said Candelaria.<\/p>\n

He mentioned the IronWood Mill property outside Dolores, which has cost the county a lot in litigation. Years later, it\u2019s still in the courts, and it\u2019s still not cleaned up properly.<\/p>\n

The county wants to avoid a similar negative experience with solar, because in 25 or 30 years when the panels are worn out, they want to ensure it\u2019s decommissioned properly, said Koppenhafer.<\/p>\n

There will be another conversation like this \u2013 a traveling town hall \u2013 on April 21 at the Dolores Community Center, 400 Riverside Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018We\u2019re worried about public lands too,\u2019 commissioner says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77944,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23017\/revisions\/77944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23017"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}