County puts surplus land up for bidding
Written By Patrick Davarn
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
County commissioners are in the process of offering for sale, to the highest bidder, several parcels of land in Ouray.
The Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution Monday that declares Lots 3-5, and Lots 20-22, both within Block 1 near and above the intersection of Highway 550 and County Road 361 as surplus. The property will be offered for sale in accordance with the county policy.
County Administrator Connie Hunt described access to the parcels as Òvery verticalÓ and at present of no practical use to the county. Consideration of selling it began when adjacent property owner Bob Smith approached the BOCC last month and asked about a right-of-way easement or if he could buy the property.
HuntÕs follow-up report to the BOCC included a suggestion of declaring the property as surplus as it has Òno efficient or appropriate useÓ and that it not be sold for less than fair market value. An appraiser will be hired and Hunt said the buyer, if any bid is accepted, will reimburse the county for that cost.
During last monthÕs discussion, Commissioner Keith Meinert suggested that the land be put up for bid. On Monday he repeated his assertion that it is not being done specifically for one interested party.
ÒWe are not catering to one individual,Ó said Meinert. ÒAll we are saying is this property is surplus, it doesnÕt fit any county purposes and we are willing to dispose of it.Ó
Meinert said if the county agrees to accept a bid on the property, any development of the parcels must conform with City of Ouray regulations.
Hunt said at the BOCCÕs April 13 meeting that any proceeds from the sale, should the county accept a bid, will be deposited and held in a separate account. She suggested that any such funds be used in the future for capital projects or to have matching funds required for most grants.
BOCC Chairman Heidi Albritton said she liked the idea of a separate account, not placing any such revenues in the General Fund. ÒI suggest we have a discussion on how to earmark these kinds of funds, especially for use in improving our (county) facilities,Ó she said.
Commissioner Lynn Padgett agreed. ÒDay-to-day operations should not be funded by the sale of our assets.Ó
Smith informed county officials that he owns six lots next to those owned by the county and two lots owned by Tom and Cynthia Vallejos, with whom he is seeking access. In a letter to the BOCC he said their intention is to gain access to their land from a site near the Colorado Department of Transportation facility along CR 361.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Ouray Affordable Real Estate
Regional Housing Authority Moves Ahead With Plan
by Gus JarvisApr 15, 2009 | 40 views | 0 | 0 | | Short-Term Solutions Include Home Rehabilitation and Weatherization
OURAY – While there is little question of the need for affordable housing in Ouray County, the actual number of units required to catch up with the region’s current growth, and projected growth, is a moving target. Combine that with the recession and streamlined budgets of local governments and the process of solving the region’s housing problems has been no easy task for the 10-member Regional Housing Authority.
Still, the group of elected and appointed officials from the City of Ouray, Town of Ridgway and Ouray County is three-quarters of the way finished with a housing plan.
Ridgway Town Planner Jen Coates, who sits on the housing authority board, told the Ouray Board of County Commissioners on Monday that even if affordable housing units cannot be funded immediately because of tightened budgets, the housing authority still intends to create an effective and realistic housing plan for the region.
The authority, with the help of consultant Melanie Rees, has been formulating its plan with data from the 2008-completed housing needs assessment. According to that assessment, there is currently a need for 149 units of affordable housing to catch up with current demands. By 2015, the region will need close to 200. The assessment also states that 75 percent of employees who work within Ridgway live outside Ouray County and that housing costs have increased 10 percent a year with real employee wages increasing at a rate of 2.1 percent a year.
With the understanding that those numbers may have changed from the time the assessment was completed in 2008, the housing authority decided to reassess them in formulating the plan.
“In light of the current economy and changes, we thought it would be a good idea to check in to make sure we end up with a realistic and effective plan that we can feel comfortable putting into action,” Coates told the commissioners. She did not go into details on how those housing needs may have changed, but said the housing action plan and final report will be completed by the end of May.
“We know what the need is,” she said, adding that the question the group now faces is “how do we put a plan into place.”
Coates said that the final report will be made up of six components. It will address the 2008 needs assessment as well as the reevaluation and modification of those numbers to coincide with current conditions. The group also looked at housing trends in Ouray County, like second home ownership and the mix of housing types and income targets.
Other components of the plan call for the authority to create housing goals and objectives that outline the actual housing numbers targeted and to decide on priority strategies to solve the housing problem.
“This is, in part, where we are at right now,” Coates said. “What are our catch-up strategies and what are our keep-up strategies? Frankly, the keep-up strategies are easy. The catch-up strategies require funding. We are excited about keep-up but catch-up is going to be tricky.”
For example, Coates said municipalities can enact certain regulations for future developments that would include a certain percentage of affordable housing. These regulations, like inclusionary zoning, once in place, will be the “keep-up” as the region grows.
To play “catch-up” with the region’s housing needs, money is the main factor.
In the short-term, Coates said, one strategy is to look at the existing housing stock and then lower housing costs through house rehabilitation and weatherization programs.
“There is funding out there for those that don’t require a significant amount of cash,” she said. For example, the Youth Corps recently performed energy audits on 25 homes in Ouray County, and in so doing provided energy efficient light bulbs, handed out exterior and interior laundry lines, and installed energy efficient thermostats. The audits were funded through the Governor’s Energy Office and created by Grand Junction-based Housing Resources. Such programs can be used in this belt-tightening economy to lower housing costs and will be a part of the housing authority’s final plan.
Coates said another portion of the plan will outline the methods of implementation, while the final piece of the plan deals with its administration, or the “who is going to do it and what is it going to look like.”
After hearing from Coates, the commissioners generally agreed that the group is moving in the right direction and that collaboration between the City of Ouray, the Town of Ridgway and Ouray County to addrress housing needs remains a priority.
The final housing action plan is scheduled for presentation on May 27 at the Ouray Community Center.
by Gus JarvisApr 15, 2009 | 40 views | 0 | 0 | | Short-Term Solutions Include Home Rehabilitation and Weatherization
OURAY – While there is little question of the need for affordable housing in Ouray County, the actual number of units required to catch up with the region’s current growth, and projected growth, is a moving target. Combine that with the recession and streamlined budgets of local governments and the process of solving the region’s housing problems has been no easy task for the 10-member Regional Housing Authority.
Still, the group of elected and appointed officials from the City of Ouray, Town of Ridgway and Ouray County is three-quarters of the way finished with a housing plan.
Ridgway Town Planner Jen Coates, who sits on the housing authority board, told the Ouray Board of County Commissioners on Monday that even if affordable housing units cannot be funded immediately because of tightened budgets, the housing authority still intends to create an effective and realistic housing plan for the region.
The authority, with the help of consultant Melanie Rees, has been formulating its plan with data from the 2008-completed housing needs assessment. According to that assessment, there is currently a need for 149 units of affordable housing to catch up with current demands. By 2015, the region will need close to 200. The assessment also states that 75 percent of employees who work within Ridgway live outside Ouray County and that housing costs have increased 10 percent a year with real employee wages increasing at a rate of 2.1 percent a year.
With the understanding that those numbers may have changed from the time the assessment was completed in 2008, the housing authority decided to reassess them in formulating the plan.
“In light of the current economy and changes, we thought it would be a good idea to check in to make sure we end up with a realistic and effective plan that we can feel comfortable putting into action,” Coates told the commissioners. She did not go into details on how those housing needs may have changed, but said the housing action plan and final report will be completed by the end of May.
“We know what the need is,” she said, adding that the question the group now faces is “how do we put a plan into place.”
Coates said that the final report will be made up of six components. It will address the 2008 needs assessment as well as the reevaluation and modification of those numbers to coincide with current conditions. The group also looked at housing trends in Ouray County, like second home ownership and the mix of housing types and income targets.
Other components of the plan call for the authority to create housing goals and objectives that outline the actual housing numbers targeted and to decide on priority strategies to solve the housing problem.
“This is, in part, where we are at right now,” Coates said. “What are our catch-up strategies and what are our keep-up strategies? Frankly, the keep-up strategies are easy. The catch-up strategies require funding. We are excited about keep-up but catch-up is going to be tricky.”
For example, Coates said municipalities can enact certain regulations for future developments that would include a certain percentage of affordable housing. These regulations, like inclusionary zoning, once in place, will be the “keep-up” as the region grows.
To play “catch-up” with the region’s housing needs, money is the main factor.
In the short-term, Coates said, one strategy is to look at the existing housing stock and then lower housing costs through house rehabilitation and weatherization programs.
“There is funding out there for those that don’t require a significant amount of cash,” she said. For example, the Youth Corps recently performed energy audits on 25 homes in Ouray County, and in so doing provided energy efficient light bulbs, handed out exterior and interior laundry lines, and installed energy efficient thermostats. The audits were funded through the Governor’s Energy Office and created by Grand Junction-based Housing Resources. Such programs can be used in this belt-tightening economy to lower housing costs and will be a part of the housing authority’s final plan.
Coates said another portion of the plan will outline the methods of implementation, while the final piece of the plan deals with its administration, or the “who is going to do it and what is it going to look like.”
After hearing from Coates, the commissioners generally agreed that the group is moving in the right direction and that collaboration between the City of Ouray, the Town of Ridgway and Ouray County to addrress housing needs remains a priority.
The final housing action plan is scheduled for presentation on May 27 at the Ouray Community Center.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Geothermal in Ouray
Written by: Beverly Corbell
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
OURAY — The Ouray City Council took measures at its Monday meeting that will have direct effects on the Ouray Hot Springs Pool: bring more hot water in and keep cold water out.
The council awarded an engineering contract at the meeting to study replacing the Skyrocket Creek diversion, which washed away in 2006, and “in a major flood event” could potentially flood out the pool, said city manager Patrick Rondinelli. The contract was awarded to McMillan Engineering of Ridgway.
A second engineering contract was given to Monadock Mineral Services of Ouray to determine work needed to replace the hot water line from Box Canyon that feeds the Ouray pool.
The current line leaks, Rondinelli said, losing water and heat along the way. The section of line to be replaced runs from Box Canyon to Third Avenue and Oak streets, he said.
“Where the source is, are significant holes in the line from scree debris, and with the river channel, it undercuts the line and (the line) is actually hanging in the air,” he said. “We’re in jeopardy of closing that line, which would have significant impact on the pool.”
Not only will the hot water line be replaced, but other sources of hot water from the many geothermal springs around Ouray will be located, not only for the pool but to increase the likelihood of producing geothermal energy.
Monadock will partner with West Water Engineering to complete the study, Rondinelli said.
“We are really excited to move forward, and in the best-case scenario we hope to have the engineering done by mid-summer and start construction this fall during low river season,” he said. “We still have to go out and get funding for construction and it will probably be next year before the real work is done.”
The Skyrocket diversion project will protect both the pool and U.S. Highway 550 from potential flood damage in case of a major flood event like the flood of 1929. That event “flooded the power plant, took the railroad section house and almost got the depot. Bridges and roads vanished and the Hot Springs Pool filled with mud, rock and debris…,” according to A Brief History of Ouray by historian Doris Gregory.
The Skyrocket diversion has not been replaced since it washed away in 2006, Rondinelli said, and the channel of the creek still wants to run north – to the pool.
“If we do have a significant event, there is nothing to stop it from coming back to its historical drainage, especially if it became plugged,” he said. “Everything would go toward the pool, and we’re just lucky that it hasn’t happened.”
Funding for both engineering studies comes from a $60,000 grant from the state Department of Local Affairs and $40,000 in matching funds from the city, Rondinelli said.
Both projects are vital to Ouray, Rondinelli said. Flooding from Skyrocket Creek could damage the pool in a major flood, he said, and could wash away sections of U.S. Highway 550, the major evacuation route from Ouray to the north.
Keeping the city-owned hot springs pool hot is important because the pool attracts visitors and contributes about $1 million annually to the city’s parks system, Rondinelli said.
“It’s a major tourist attraction, one of the many assets we have along with the beauty of the terrain, the Jeep trails and hiking trails, restaurants and shops, and obviously is a major draw that helps bring people here,” he said.
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
OURAY — The Ouray City Council took measures at its Monday meeting that will have direct effects on the Ouray Hot Springs Pool: bring more hot water in and keep cold water out.
The council awarded an engineering contract at the meeting to study replacing the Skyrocket Creek diversion, which washed away in 2006, and “in a major flood event” could potentially flood out the pool, said city manager Patrick Rondinelli. The contract was awarded to McMillan Engineering of Ridgway.
A second engineering contract was given to Monadock Mineral Services of Ouray to determine work needed to replace the hot water line from Box Canyon that feeds the Ouray pool.
The current line leaks, Rondinelli said, losing water and heat along the way. The section of line to be replaced runs from Box Canyon to Third Avenue and Oak streets, he said.
“Where the source is, are significant holes in the line from scree debris, and with the river channel, it undercuts the line and (the line) is actually hanging in the air,” he said. “We’re in jeopardy of closing that line, which would have significant impact on the pool.”
Not only will the hot water line be replaced, but other sources of hot water from the many geothermal springs around Ouray will be located, not only for the pool but to increase the likelihood of producing geothermal energy.
Monadock will partner with West Water Engineering to complete the study, Rondinelli said.
“We are really excited to move forward, and in the best-case scenario we hope to have the engineering done by mid-summer and start construction this fall during low river season,” he said. “We still have to go out and get funding for construction and it will probably be next year before the real work is done.”
The Skyrocket diversion project will protect both the pool and U.S. Highway 550 from potential flood damage in case of a major flood event like the flood of 1929. That event “flooded the power plant, took the railroad section house and almost got the depot. Bridges and roads vanished and the Hot Springs Pool filled with mud, rock and debris…,” according to A Brief History of Ouray by historian Doris Gregory.
The Skyrocket diversion has not been replaced since it washed away in 2006, Rondinelli said, and the channel of the creek still wants to run north – to the pool.
“If we do have a significant event, there is nothing to stop it from coming back to its historical drainage, especially if it became plugged,” he said. “Everything would go toward the pool, and we’re just lucky that it hasn’t happened.”
Funding for both engineering studies comes from a $60,000 grant from the state Department of Local Affairs and $40,000 in matching funds from the city, Rondinelli said.
Both projects are vital to Ouray, Rondinelli said. Flooding from Skyrocket Creek could damage the pool in a major flood, he said, and could wash away sections of U.S. Highway 550, the major evacuation route from Ouray to the north.
Keeping the city-owned hot springs pool hot is important because the pool attracts visitors and contributes about $1 million annually to the city’s parks system, Rondinelli said.
“It’s a major tourist attraction, one of the many assets we have along with the beauty of the terrain, the Jeep trails and hiking trails, restaurants and shops, and obviously is a major draw that helps bring people here,” he said.
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