Aspen City Council members want the municipal government to take enforcement of COVID-19 public health orders on restaurant and bars into its own hands, saying there are too many violations occurring and they are fearful that reopening the economy will lead to a spike in cases.<\/p>\n
During its regular meeting Tuesday,<\/a> council directed City Manager Sara Ott to come up with a staffing plan that includes individuals who are paid to educate, observe and report violations of public health orders to Pitkin County.<\/p>\n The next step is get to a level of enforcement that is more draconian, such as suspending liquor and business licenses if bars and restaurants are violating public health orders that limit capacity at 50% and tables 8 feet apart.<\/p>\n \u201cHow successful will our reopening be when we have some restaurants or individuals who have chosen to flaunt the rules and act like they don\u2019t really know you\u2019re supposed to have a mask on, or that you\u2019re supposed to social distance 6 feet,\u201d said Councilwoman Rachel Richards, calling a case in which a bar owner allowed a large gathering into his establishment two weeks ago \u201cdespicable.\u201d <\/p>\n She suggested that the city augment the county\u2019s plan to hire two consumer protection individuals<\/a> to do spot checks in restaurants with its own inspectors. <\/p>\n \u201cWe really need more authority than just depending on the board of health to take action,\u201d she said. \u201cI know we have had to basically hand over our responsibility and our authority when we were under the incident management team but we\u2019re not now.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Torre suggested that a \u201cstreets team\u201d be created, whether it is made up of existing city staff or others who can be trained on education and enforcement.<\/p>\n He said time is of the essence and a staffing plan needed to be instituted by Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel like we are a little behind on maintaining our street presence here, so another week for me is another week lost,\u201d Torre said.<\/p>\n Ott pushed back, arguing that she can\u2019t responsibly get an enforcement staff assembled and the related city codes and public health orders changed in short order.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very uncomfortable trying to throw this together,\u201d she said. \u201cI think this has large implications for our businesses and for the staff who fulfill the role.<\/p>\n \u201cI respectfully ask that we do it right and I don\u2019t appreciate the continued pressure to do it in 72 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Torre said the conversation about enforcement has been going on for \u201ca while\u201d and he wants to see action.<\/p>\n Ott said she can prepare a staff memo addressing council\u2019s concerns by next week.<\/p>\n Richards, along with other council members, said they support a rollout of education, observation and reporting to the county, with the city working on changing its codes so a team can enforce COVID-19 rules \u201con the fly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more than willing to grant the time that Sara needs to do this professionally and to do this right and I think there is a little disappointment that we don\u2019t think the county team alone will be enough,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I can tell they won\u2019t and I think everything is a balancing on a knife edge right now about whether we slide into the abyss economically and visitation and tourism over the next few months or we come out … that is why we\u2019re all so on edge and we all feel the timing is so (important).\u201d<\/p>\n Councilwoman Ann Mullins said she favors education first and then enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been shocked as I ride around town the first thing in the morning or later at night of the non-compliance in town,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock said last week that the government will prioritize hiring the two consumer protection positions as part of a COVID-19 team it is assembling.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s clearly where we\u2019re feeling the pressure,\u201d Peacock said last week. \u201cWe\u2019re not doing enough of that work right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Torre said on Tuesday that he\u2019s concerned about a spike in COVID-19 cases, noting there has been an increase in the valley.<\/p>\n