Summit County reopened more than 130 restaurants to indoor dining in the past few days under the state’s new certification system.

Summit County, home to Breckenridge, Frisco and ski resorts, started work Wednesday when final guidelines were released covering requirements for the state’s five-star certification program, designed to safely expand indoor capacities at businesses in communities with a high numbers of COVID-19 cases, County Manager Scott Vargo said.

Summit County is experiencing a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, making it eligible for the program. 

El Paso County could be eligible in a few days if the trend continues, but local officials want the state to instead just allow area restaurants to open at 25% capacity with two households per table, saying the certification process does not serve businesses well.

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Officials made their case for the alternative approach in a letter to Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday.

In Summit County, officials called on county and local town employees to volunteer to help run the program to get restaurant dining rooms open ahead of the critical Christmas rush, Vargo said.

The county had 60 employees help inspect each restaurant as required by the state to make sure they were meeting new rules, such as better ventilation, and worked over the weekend to get them open, he said.

“It was a whirlwind to say the least to get everything put together. … We really needed to do it for the economic vitality of the community,” Vargo said.

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Ember, a fine dining restaurant in Breckenridge, opened Saturday night and is sold out for in-person dining on Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, said Max Everhart, general manager. 

The restaurant is only able to have nine tables because under new state rules limiting capacity in areas with high COVID-19 numbers to 25% with tables kept 10 feet apart, up from the more common 6-foot standard distance.

With the limit on guests, Ember changed its menu to offer a preset three-course meal for $70 a person, Everhart said.

One of the biggest hurdles to opening restaurants under the certification program is new ventilation requirements and Ember spent $1,000 on four mobile air filters to meet the requirements, Everhart said.

Other restaurants added box fans and opened windows, and had their air conditioning and heating systems adjusted, Vargo said.

Ember is one of about 400 restaurants in Summit County. Not all of them are interested in meeting the state’s new requirements and are happy with selling to-go meals, Vargo said.

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But some think they can make a profit under the new rules and rehire employees, which is important to Summit County, he said.