1,000 Voices for Our Kids, Our Community, and Our Future

To: Cortez City Council and City Administration

We demand transparency, public input, and a fair chance to save our outdoor pool before any decision to close it indefinitely.

The Cortez Outdoor Pool is more than a swimming pool. It is an essential part of our rural community, providing summer recreation, life-saving swimming skills, youth development, and competitive swimming opportunities for families and generations throughout Montezuma County. It is also the 3rd highest elevation Long Course pool (Olympic Sized) in the entire USA!

The City's own 2025 Annual Report documents the impact of this facility:

11,322 pool visits in the 2025 season.

447 swimming lessons taught.

27 lifeguards trained, building local water-safety skills and employment opportunities.

Two Cortez Water Dragons swim meets hosted, with daily team practices throughout the season.

Our community's swim team serves approximately 90 young athletes. The outdoor facility accommodates both long-course and short-course swimming and hosts meets that the cramped indoor pool cannot adequately replace.

For our children, this pool means opportunities to learn essential water-safety skills, stay active, develop confidence, build friendships, and participate in a sport that may otherwise be inaccessible. For our community, it means affordable summer recreation and a place that brings families together.

We recognize that the facility is aging and that a leak and maintenance expenses must be addressed. We are not asking the City to ignore these challenges. We are asking our elected officials to be transparent and to thoroughly evaluate solutions before an important public asset is lost.

WE ASK CORTEZ CITY COUNCIL TO:

Pause any decision to close the outdoor pool indefinitely until a meaningful public process has occurred.

Release the relevant financial and engineering information, including the leak assessment, repair estimates, water-loss costs, annual operating expenses, and long-term capital costs.

Hold a properly noticed public meeting where residents, families, swimmers, and community organizations can express their concerns before a final decision.

Explore alternatives to indefinite closure, including repairs, phased improvements, grants, community partnerships, fundraising, and sustainable operating options.

Explain how the City's decision would affect youth and community access, swimming lessons, competitive swimming, and the ability to host meets.

We believe a community facility of this importance deserves a transparent evaluation of its future, not a decision made without meaningful public input.

Our children deserve opportunities. Our families deserve a voice. Our community deserves a fair chance to find a solution.

Please sign and share this petition. Let's bring 1,000 voices to City Council and ask our elected officials to protect the Cortez Outdoor Pool while we work toward a responsible, sustainable solution.

Source for the 2025 figures: City of Cortez, 2025 Annual Report, Outdoor Pool section.

Drew Sanders

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