LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor: Allow me to double-down on topics: one very “hot” and prominent, and the other potentially more “hot” but on the back burner. I trust that many Ouray-area citizens and all of the City Council have taken note and heeded the fact-based warnings of last week’s letter, “Ouray should learn from Maui.” The letter warns of a lack of a warning system in the wake of the Lahaina disaster, one that could have been mitigated by a warning system that could have been immediately understood by their citizenry.
Such a warning system here would have to be different than our fire warning and noon time signal, one, for example, that would pulsate rhythmically for 3 seconds to alert of a forest fire or flood. Clearing a few trees in the vicinity of Ouray city limits may appease the public and the minds of the City Council in re-election bids, but it will do little to actually avert a disaster from either of nature’s fury.
“It can’t happen here.” Ask citizens of California or Canada to answer that one.
The other topic definitely on the minds of citizens is the ongoing (and forever ongoing) debate on the specifics of the final approval of Waterview Homes development.
While the City Council seems to approve the overall effort for affordable housing, their insistence on a paved road in front of the development seems a bit hypocritical. Where else within the city limits of Ouray is there a paved street in front of a residential neighborhood? So the argument that allowing a gravel street is “not how we want Ouray to look” is just not the reality. That insistence is causing more financial obstructions to the project’s initial intent. And when one considers that there is an effort on the part of a council member, albeit independent of council actions, to pursue an alpine resort overlooking Ouray, that hypocritical nature belies reality.
There seems to be a simple solution to both “hot” issues that are within the council’s control: Spend some of that record tourist tax infl ux to install the suggested warning system and allow the Waterview Homes developer to continue the historical road appearance of Ouray that persists everywhere else in town by using gravel in front of residential properties. That should “cool” both heated concerns.
Don Mort Ouray
