The Hotchkiss Planning Commission is recommending a major exception from off-street parking requirements for the new West Bridge St. Restaurant, according to the North Fork Merchant Herald. The property located at 320 West Bridge Street also resides in a commercial mixed use zone, which permits restaurants without a special zoning review, but any new restaurant also triggers the need to provide adequate off-street parking. More specifically, per town code, one off-street parking space is required for every three seats in a restaurant. Property owners Rick and Jean Deane of the Aspen area are proposing a 40-seat restaurant and asked the Town to waive most of the parking space requirements. That would come to 13 spaces for the new establishment.
Montrose County commissioners are poised to turn down a $7.7 million grant that would renovate the historic courthouse. The Montrose Daily Press reported that commissioners cited multiple reasons to turn down the hefty grant, calling the parameters of the federal funding “untenable” and “onerous.” Among those reasons: potential conflicts with state law; handing control over to a USDA staff architect, and, as the county understands it, local contractors would be ineligible to bid on the project. Like the city, Montrose County has a track record of prioritizing commissioning local contractors. If the county were to accept the multimillion dollar grant, the project would still be primarily funded from local revenue.
With Delta Health in the midst of transitioning its spearhead, the rural hospital is now directing a majority of the blame for its declining financial status toward insurance repayments. This report comes from the Delta County Independent. The hospital board chairman, Jean Ceriani, pointed to what she called the “crippling effect of repayment of the medicare advance payments received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the wake of COVID.” Ceriani added that with accelerating payment obligations through 2022 having been paid off as of this month, the hospital’s finances were left drained. Secondly, she blamed late and inconsistent payments by insurance carriers. Now, the board and the hospital as an organization are allegedly seeking short term and long term solutions to the financial problem.
For the second time last week, Democrats in the state House of Representatives voted to limit debate over three reproductive healthcare bills. Capital Reporter Lucas Brady Woods details how last Thursday’s action is a response to Republican delay tactics.
Congress approved a resolution last week to overturn the Biden Administration’s expanded protections for the nation’s waterways. The Waters of the United States rule tries to define what is federally protected under the Clean Water Act. Depending on the president, those definitions can be broad or narrow. The Biden Administration says it’s trying to strike a good balance and maintain environmental stewardship, but Republicans say the rule is government overreach..
From KVNF
Multiple emergency management agencies and fire departments descended on Redlands Mesa near Hotchkiss for a Wildland fire training exercise on Saturday. KVNF’s Lisa Young was there. Here’s her report.
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