<\/p>\n
Longtime locals, brace yourself: New management is looking to reopen the long-abandoned M&M truck stop.<\/p>\n
The once-popular restaurant, gas station and convenience store at the intersection of U.S. Highway 491 and County Road G closed in 2001. It was abandoned, went into tax default and has been deteriorating ever since.<\/p>\n
Consultants for the property, Ruff-Rhodes LLC, of Houston, Texas, report the plan is to refurbish the property into its former glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on the site the last year and a half and aim to get the restaurant back open,\u201d said Tommy Ruff told The Journal in a telephone interview on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In addition to the restaurant, he said the plan is to re-establish the entire truck stop, including the fuel pumps, bathrooms, showers and convenience store.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been visiting Cortez quite a bit, and the fact this site is on a major north-south freeway makes it an ideal business opportunity,\u201d Ruff said.<\/p>\n
He said its location next to the Colorado Port of Entry provides convenient trucking customers.<\/p>\n
Ruff envisions a 24-hour restaurant serving traditional, homestyle fare, including steaks, burgers, sandwiches, omelets, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and endless pots of coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to copycat what was there before and get people excited about returning to dine at the refurbished M&M,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to help revitalize the corridor leading into Cortez.\u201d<\/p>\n
The M&M site has contaminated soils because of a fuel leak from the early 1990s. Ruff said the plan is to remove the contaminated soil.<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t happen overnight.<\/p>\n
Permit reviews for the business need to be completed, according to the Montezuma County planning office, and the status of the M&M ownership is not a done deal.<\/p>\n
According to public records with the Montezuma County Treasurer\u2019s Office, the M&M restaurant is owned by Abas Energy Inc., of Ontario, California. But in 2011, the company became delinquent on the property\u2019s taxes, and the M&M went to a tax lien sale, records show. An investment firm eventually took over the annual tax payments and is now eligible to apply for a treasurer\u2019s deed to become outright owners.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also unfinished business of cleaning up the site.<\/p>\n
A petroleum spill on the property in the early 1990s was not mitigated, and it prompted a civil suit by the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety in April 2015. Cleanup costs are estimated between $300,000 and $500,000, according to state environmental officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to encourage them in any way we can to bring a viable business back there,\u201d said Montezuma County Commissioner Keenan Ertel. \u201cIt has been an eyesore for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n