MINERAL COUNTY — Mineral County Commissioners as well as the City of Creede voted to waive liquor license fees for area businesses for the 2021 renewal period. In a meeting held by the Mineral County Commissioners on Tuesday, March 16, the board passed the decision unanimously and voted to refund fees for licenses that were approved earlier in the year.

The decision came after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order passing Senate Bill 20B-001 at the end of 2020 which contained different legislation that would help small businesses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to an article printed by the Associated Press in December of last year, “Polis also signed Senate Bill 20B-001, the direct aid bill. That comes with a price tag of $57.1 million. Of that, $37 million would go to restaurants, bars and gyms impacted by capacity restrictions. The bill also waives fees for liquor licenses for one year.”

Commissioners felt that this initiative should be supported locally and to use the funding available to help local businesses who have dealt with capacity restrictions and closures for the past year. Many businesses in the Creede area rely solely on summer tourism for income to get them through the slower winter months.

“We have done one for a local business and one for Wolf Creek Ski Resort before they opened up funding but we have about four more up for renewal this year. Some have called and asked if we were going to waive fees and told them that we would discussing it and that I would get back to them with an answer after today,” explained Mineral County Administrator Janelle Kukuk.

Kukuk continued to explain that bars and restaurants were some of the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic, she felt that on the local level it would be good to show continued support as restrictions begin to lessen.