By Caleb Stento
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On Monday evening, without hesitation, Ouray City Council unanimously approved entering into a marketing contract with the Ouray Chamber Resort Association (OCRA) for 2013.
One specific request in the contract between OCRA and the city is that OCRA focus their efforts on expanding year-round tourism, with special emphasis on the shoulder seasons. In 2012 OCRA made great strides toward meeting this request with the introduction of the wildly successful Mud Fest.
The discussion item of the evening, a water turn off/on policy, made its way onto the list of action items for the evening. The policy described as “a great idea and long overdue,” by Councilman Richard Kersen, (the other council members agreed with this sentiment) stems from the need by part time Ouray residents to have their water service turned off when they leave town and turned back on when they return. This service has been provided by the city at no charge.
According to the staff report to council, these requests have often impeded the ability of the public works crew to perform their regular responsibilities and come with “additional responsibilities…that expose the city to significant liability issues.”
The new policy was unanimously accepted by council and, besides a $20 fee for each action of turning water on or off, outlines several criteria that must be met before the city will take any action.
In other business, council approved Ordinance No. 8, 2nd reading, regarding offenses on city property outside of city limits and approved a modification of premises request by the Ouray Brewery to add a bar to the third level. This item was moved from the consent agenda to the action item.