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Ouray County Newsletter
August 2022
Connecting Ouray County Government with Ouray County
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County Courthouse Awarded "Golden Nugget" for
Best Rehabilitation Project
On July 19, Ouray County Courthouse Architect, Charles Cunniffe, and staff, presented County Administrator Connie Hunt with the Golden Nugget Award for winning Best Rehabilitation Project at the 59th Annual Golden Nugget Awards hosted by PCBC.
Charles Cunniff Architects received this award during the annual competition which honors architectural design and planning excellence and draws entries from throughout the United States and internationally.
This is a tremendous honor and we are very proud of this recognition!
You can read the full Press Release to learn more.
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L-R: Ashley Byers Satterfield, Senior Project Architect; Charles Cunniffe, Architect; Connie Hunt, County Administrator; Ben Tisdel, County Commissioner and Vicki Lane, Administrative Specialist | |
The Ouray County Fair - Fun for the Whole Family!
The Ouray County Fair is August 11, 12 & 13
at the Ouray County 4-H Event Center and Fairgrounds
View the full schedule
Sign-up for the Open Class Division!
Show off your talents in the following categories:
Canning - Banking - Hand Crafts - Leather Making - Jerky Making - Wine Making
Registration for Open Class is Thursday, Aug 11 from 10am-Noon
Have time to volunteer? We could use your help!
Pall Erin @ 970-626-3304 if you'd like to volunteer for any of these positions:
-Open Class Division Assistants
-Display set-up/break-down
-Paperwork
-Fairgrounds Barn Help
-Score Tabulator
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County Road 1 Chip Seal Project Completed!
That's a wrap on the latest County Road 1 project. During the entire 2-mile build-up and chip seal project, 122 truckloads (2,800 tons) of gravel was installed, 20,000 gallons of asphaltic emulsion was spread, and 650 tons of clean 3/4" chips and 650 tons of clean 3/8" chips were laid and compacted.
As seen in the picture above, the oil distributor leads the team while applying a carefully metered volume of asphaltic emulsion across the road surface. The chip spreader follows while pulling the tandem-axle dump trucks backwards, uphill – transferring and spreading the loads of chip rock, 14 tons per truckload. The 9-wheel and 15-ton double-drum rollers follow the dump trucks and compact the chip rock into the fresh emulsion. Finally, the road brooms sweep away the excess chips to reveal the finished product.
Follow Road & Bridge on Facebook!
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Monsoon Season Brings Flood Damage to County Roads
Many thanks to our dedicated Road & Bridge crew who have responded numerous times during the weekends and have worked many long hours to help clear mudslide debris from many of our county roads.
Below are pictures of recent mudslides and cleanup on County Road 24, 17 and County Road 361/Camp Bird Road.
As of August 3, Camp Bird Road and County Road 17 have re-opened after major clean-up and County Road 24 remains open as well.
View the Road and Bridge Superintendent August Report
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County Road 17 / Corbett Creek Flooding | |
Mudslide cleanup on County Road 361 - July 28 | |
Camp Bird Road / Yankee Boy Basin Mudslide Clean-up | | |
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Sheriff's Office Hosts
National Night Out
National Night Out 2022 was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who attended. Special thanks to Ridgway Mountain Market for donating the food - we are so grateful for their support! Thank you to Log Hill Volunteer Fire Department Station 1 for hosting this event and thanks to Log Hill resident Buddy Pacheco for loaning us the grill for the night. What great neighbors we have!
Follow the Sheriff's Office Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
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Become a Licensed Child Care Provider
A major bottleneck in providing child care is a lack of licensed individuals in the region. If you are interested in becoming a licensed child care provider, you can take the two required courses for free.
The college level courses necessary are ECE 101 and 103, and you can take them for free from a college of your choice in Colorado, paid for by money dedicated by the state of Colorado. Local colleges that offer the courses include online programs through Western Colorado Community College and Colorado Northwestern Community College, and an in-person/online hybrid through Colorado Mesa University in Montrose.
Bright Futures can help guide you through the process of enrolling and receiving financial aid so there will be no financial cost to you.
Ouray County lacks enough child care to meet demand, and an informal working group comprised of representatives from Bright Futures, Voyager, Ridgway and Ouray school districts, Ouray County, Town of Ridgway, City of Ouray, Home Trust of Ouray County, and Trina’s Fun House are working on solutions.
View information flyer
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Montrose Regional Health Hosts Health Fair at Ouray County 4-H Event Center
Saturday, August 6, 7am-10am
Register online at Montrose Health!
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2022 NAC0 Conference
In July, Commissioners Niece and Tisdel, as well as County Clerk Nauer attended the National Association of Counties (NACo) conference held in Aurora, CO. Roughly 3,000 county representatives from across the country convened to share ideas and solutions to county-level issues.
Talking with other counties from around the state and nation is valuable because others have encountered similar problems to those we are facing, and it allows us to learn from others mistakes and successes. It is an opportunity borrow policies that were developed by larger counties with more resources and adapt them for our use. It also allows us to identify nationwide trends that may affect Ouray County, and weigh in on federal policy, particularly around federal lands which make up about half of Ouray County.
Seminar and discussion topics included public land management, environment, energy and land use policy, climate and resilience, employee health and satisfaction, supporting early childhood development, disaster preparedness and crisis response, affordable housing, tourism/gateway county issues, and more.
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Vegetation Management Weed of the Month
-Oxeye Daisy-
Oxeye Daisy is often sold in seed packets, under the common names marguerite, dog daisy, field daisy, moon daisy, moon-penny, poor-land penny, poverty daisy and white daisy!!! Be aware of what you are planting! This Daisy now infests the areas surrounding Red Mountain Pass, Box Canyon Falls and in Ouray. Many well-meaning gardeners have planted this species in ornamental flower beds in the City of Ouray. It originates from Europe and Asia.
How to Identify:
Seeds germinate during summer or fall
Has spoon shaped lower leaves and linear leaves on upper stem
Stems are hairless
Flowers 1-2 inches wide
Is a perennial (grows back year after year)
Peak bud production June-September
One flower per branch
Produces about 200 seeds (or more) per flower
Seeds viable about 39 years
Seeds are spread through wind, animals
Ouray County Vegetation Management urges all county residents to manage any Oxeye Daisy infestations, with elimination in mind. Weed control is a community effort! Please do your part to keep Ouray County vegetation native, and protect wildlife and livestock.
Please help eradicate this species, and report sightings to the Ouray County Vegetation Manger.
See the Ouray County Vegetation Management website for an identification tool, to help you identify all weeds of concern in the county.
To reach our Vegetation Management Office, please call
970-626-9775
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Sign up for BOTH Ouray County Emergency Notification Systems! | |
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WENS is designed to instantly reach cell phones, landline numbers, email addresses, pagers and desktop alerts when an urgent County alert needs to
be communicated.
Recipients can choose to receive notification of Avalanche Notifications, Road Maintenance updates, and general notices.
In the event of an emergency, a text message, voice call, or email will be sent to the contact information you registered with the system.
Register today!
You must register to take advantage of this important notification service.
Learn more HERE
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Code Red is a high-speed mass notification system designed to notify residents in the event of an emergency.
This service allows us to deliver emergency or time-sensitive
messages to you via SMS/text, email, landline, cell phone, TTY, or a mobile
application push. Code Red alerts will display as originating from 866-419-5000 or 855-969-4636 on your caller ID.
If you missed any of the message details, you can also dial the number back to hear the complete message.
We might use Code Red in situations such as wildfires, evacuation notices, floods, boil water notices, criminal activity, and missing persons/children.
Learn more HERE
Sign-up today!
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Vaccines are the safest, most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, and to help avoid the worst outcomes (severe illness, hospitalization, and death) among those who do become infected.
State health officials stress that all Coloradans ages 6 months and older should get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. Fully vaccinated individuals who qualify for boosters or additional vaccine doses should get those as soon as possible. If you are symptomatic or have been exposed, please stay home and get tested right away.
Ouray County Public Health offers free COVID vaccines. Please log-on to our website at ouraycountyco.gov to schedule your vaccine. COVID testing is also available Mon-Thurs 9am-11am and 1pm-3pm at the public health office in Ouray at 302 2nd Street.
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 (four) free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days. - View COVIDtests.gov to order yours.
To report your At-Home COVID-19 test results - complete this form.
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Ouray County is Hiring!
We offer competitive salaries, full health benefits, retirement, paid time off and a 4 day work-week. Check out our current job postings and let your friends and family know!
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Highway 550 Construction Continues
Beginning in April, and expected to be completed by November 2022, Hwy 550 between Ouray and Colona will receive some substantial improvements. The $15 Million project is located approximately between MP 94-116. The scope of work includes a Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) leveling course and overlay with a 2-mile section to include shoulder widening between MP 98 and 100, south of Cedar Hill Cemetery. Our Road & Bridge department will be coordinating with CDOT for minor improvements along the route such as draining issues.
The new road surface will add approximately 10 years of life to the highway, provide a smoother road surface and will eliminate ruts and road damage. This will allow for an improved smoother and safer drive for motorists. The new guardrail will be 31” high instead of 27” high to help veering vehicles remain on the road more effectively, making the highway safer for the traveling public.
If you have questions or concerns or if you would like to be added to CDOTs public outreach contact list to receive construction updates:
• Project Phone Line -(970) 456-1481
• Project Email - resurfacingproject@gmail.com
• Project Webpage - https://www.codot.gov/projects/us550-ouray-to-colona-resurfacing
What can you expect?
PROJECT SCHEDULE: Hours of operation are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The project, starting in April, has an anticipated completion date of November 2022.
TRAVEL IMPACTS: Motorists should plan for one-lane alternating traffic, 20 minute delays and reduced speed limit throughout the work-zone.
Watch the March 22 presentation from CDOT (begins at 1:58:15)
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Board of County Commissioner and Planning Commission
meeting agendas, packets and Zoom credentials are available on our website. Schedules change often so it is best to double check our website for current updates/changes.
Good news! Recorded BOCC meetings and work sessions are now available to watch on our website - view 2022 meetings HERE.
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Holidays Observed by All County Departments
Monday, January 17 - Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, February 21 - Washington's Day
Monday, May 30 - Memorial Day
Monday, June 20 - Juneteenth National Independence Day (observed)
Monday, July 4 - Independence Day (observed)
Monday, September 5 - Labor Day
Monday, October 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day
Thursday, November 10 - Veteran's Day (observed)
Thursday, November 24 - Thanksgiving
Monday, December 26 - Christmas (observed)
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