County halfway to fundraising goal for clinic
Clear Creek County hopes to break ground on its collaborative health clinic in Idaho Springs next month, and it’s raised more than half of the building’s $7.1 million price tag.
Robb Pike, a consultant for the clinic’s capital campaign, said the county has secured more than $3.7 million in grants and private donations. Now, it needs to find another $3.4 million among outside donors, community support and potentially lease revenue once the clinic’s built, he said at the July 14 county commissioners meeting.
“We’ve raised enough money outside the community to say it’s doable now to raise more within the community,” Pike continued.
One challenge is that many local and statewide funders want the clinic to be built first before giving.
Recent conversations with potential funders, most of whom are from outside the county, have about $1.2 million on the table, Pike said.
He is projecting $1.8 million in lease revenue in the clinic’s first 10 years of operation. Depending on how much outside money is donated, an intra-county request campaign might need to raise about $777,000.
“It’s still an aggressive number but very doable as the community rallies around this,” Pike said.
County Manager Keith Montag said Clear Creek is still finalizing the details for the clinic’s groundbreaking, but it’s still tentatively planned for August. He was expected to have more details during Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting.
County’s mask order in place through Sept. 30
While the state has issued its own order requiring face coverings in public indoor buildings, with a few exceptions, the county’s order takes precedent and will be in place until at least Sept. 30.
The county’s requires children ages 5 and older to wear masks while the state requires them for children 11 and older. Also, face coverings must be worn outdoors except when social distancing is maintained, which is not the case in the state’s order.
“If you’re walking down the street, we don’t want you putting it on and taking it off,” Clear Creek Public & Environmental Health Director Tim Ryan said. “If you’re out in the middle of nowhere with no one around, that’s very different than being in downtown Idaho Springs. When you’re in public, you should be wearing it.”
During a special meeting Thursday, the county commissioners — sitting as the Board of Health — approved updating the order to have it last until Sept. 30 unless the board chooses to extend or modify it.
The commissioners said that Sept. 30 seemed reasonable because — assuming schools reopen for in-person learning — the county will have a good idea of intra-community spread by that time. Also, by Sept. 30, tourist traffic through Clear Creek is decreasing.
“We have to do some things to stop this trend,” Commissioner Randy Wheelock said of increasing COVID-19 cases both in Colorado and nationwide. “We shouldn’t be proud of the way it’s going right now. Hopefully, this (updated order) is something (we can be proud of) if it has the right effect.”
County officials emphasized that they don’t want people trying to use social distancing to justify not wearing a mask inside a business open to the public.
Clear Creek receives $25,000 grant for COVID-19 housing assistance
The county has received $25,000 from the Help Colorado Now COVID Relief Fund to help prevent evictions and foreclosures among Clear Creek residents.
The Grand Foundation will administer the grant on the county’s behalf.
County Manager Keith Montag said there won’t be a cap on how much each applicant can receive.
“The $25,000 is enough for us to help some folks in need as well as an opportunity to gather information about the depth of the need,” he stated in an email. “This information will help us earn additional grants, inform the use of unspent (federal relief) dollars and inform the use of our own funds.”
Sally Rush, the county’s housing coordinator, will be the primary contact to help people apply. Contact her at 303-679-4218 or srush@clearcreekcounty.us.