Members of Summit County’s lodging and short-term rental community expressed their disappointment after county officials declined a request to allow exemptions for lodging booked through the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season during their meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
On Wednesday, Dec. 23, Mary Waldman, owner of Summit Mountain Rentals which includes 250 short-term and 50 long-term rentals said lodging properties like hers are “devastated.” She said she had hoped the county’s declining COVID-19 numbers might have helped their case. Christmas cancellations have already rolled in, and she said many lodging companies are about to lose New Year’s reservations.
“(Lodging companies) were sending out (cancellation) notices after yesterday’s (Board of Health) meeting,” Waldman said. “… To wait for the vaccine, I don’t know if that makes sense. The numbers don’t support the actions that are in place today.”
Eagle County is getting ready to join the state’s new 5 Star Business Certification program, but it’s going to take a while.
The Eagle County Commissioners this week talked about establishing a framework for the program, which allows participating businesses to basically drop a level from a county’s current status on the state’s COVID-19 dial.
Summit County as of this Monday had cleared 134 restaurants to open. Summit County is currently in the state’s red classification, which tightly restricts business occupancy. Restaurants there who meet the threshold of the 5 Star program can now operate at 25% of capacity, or 50 people, whichever is fewer. That’s in accordance with the state’s orange classification.
Photo by Taylor Sienkiewicz / tsienkiewicz@summitdaily.com
Summit County’s 5 Star Business Certification Program allowed 134 restaurants to open to indoor dining over the weekend.
The program allows restaurants to reopen to in-person dining at 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer, despite the county being in level red on the state’s COVID-19 dial. The catch is that restaurants have to comply with more stringent regulations than those required for in-person dining in level orange, including spacing tables and parties at least 10 feet apart, screening customers and employees for symptoms, and gathering contact information to help with contact tracing.
If Summit County eventually moves into level orange, businesses in the five-star program can operate at capacities associated with level yellow.
As of 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, 130 local restaurants had applied for Summit County’s 5 Star Business Certification Program.
The county received its approval Friday from the state for its variance request to implement the program. According to a news release, restaurants that are approved for the program can open immediately.
Although the county has not yet released a complete list of certified restaurants, some restaurants have posted about their approval. Dillon Dam Brewery posted on Facebook that it will be opening indoor dining at 4 p.m. Friday. Timberline Craft Kitchen & Cocktails in Silverthorne and Outer Range Brewing Co. in Frisco posted that they received their approval, as well.
The Summit County Public Health Department is investigating an outbreak of at least 16 cases among sales team members and contracted workers at Breckenridge Grand Vacations.
According to a news release, the department began investigating the outbreak Nov. 25 after receiving several positive test results from employees, all of whom were tested between Nov. 18 and Dec. 1.
While company management had implemented rules for the sales office requiring masks, symptom checks and disinfecting some employees were disregarding those rules, according to the news release.
4. Vail Resorts cancels some guest reservations at Breckenridge
Additional capacity restrictions and limited open terrain are causing headaches at ski areas across Summit County, leading to canceled reservations at Breckenridge Ski Resort last weekend.