SHAWANO, WI – The City Council decided on how they would proceed with facilities and event planning for the first part of summer. They took guidelines from local, state and national health departments to guide their decisions.

At a Special Council Meeting on Wednesday, the Council decided to open park shelters, restrooms and the Recreation Center under CDC health guidelines. They also decided to allow city programing including Adult Softball Leagues, Youth Leagues, Adult Baseball Leagues, Ski-Sharks and other third party users to procede.

A decision was made to postpone the opening of the Splash Pad until the next council meeting in June so they can re-evaluate the current state of the County. Along with that, they decided to cancel sports tournament play in the city and to postpone Thursdayz at Franklin through the month of June when they will re-evaluate.

PARK SHELTERS/RESTROOMS

The Council decided to open the parks and restrooms to the public. Park and Recreation Director Matt Hendricks said they will have a cleaning schedule for the restrooms.

The Council also discussed people reserving the shelters for events that could bring in more than 50 people and recommendations for best health practices. It was advised that the department put up signs with recommendations to keep group sizes under 50 people. Fishing tournaments that are using the park shelters will be allowed to take place.

The Council was informed that the typical use is a few people at a time, but sometimes it can have 30 to 50 or more people.

CITY RUN PROGRAMS

The Council will allow programs that include both 10 or less participants and more than 10 participants. The Council gave the okay for Adult Softball League to take place.

“In this case, these are grown men, if they want to play, let them play,” said Alderperson Lisa Hoffman.

There was some concern of how many people would be at the parks at a given time. The council will make a recommendation that people play their games or participate in their event and leave, and not hang around for a social gathering.

“It’s an individual responsibility to take care of yourself,” said Mayor Ed Whealon. “I’m not in favor of regulating that.”

One discussion was if two teams with 10 people, plus the fans in the stands would be too many people and if participants would be able to properly social distance while playing.

THIRD PARTY USERS

The Council decided to allow leagues like Dairyland Baseball, BABA Baseball, Shawano Youth League to take place. They also allowed the Shawano Ski-Sharks to have their season. The Council members decided that each individual organization would have the ability to run their league keeping safety in mind. The Council did however decide to not allow tournaments to take place.

“I don’t want six ball teams from Green Bay coming here to play,” said Alderperson Sandy Steinke.

Alderman Jeff Easter said he was concerned that by allowing everything to take place, it was not listening to health experts. That sparked a discussion on tournaments which typically bring in larger crowds.

It was decided that having tournaments and opening the door to large crowds was not the best option. Leagues will be able to play without having tournaments.

Concession stands will be able to run with health department guidelines.

REC CENTER

The Shawano Rec Center will be allowed to open. Park and Rec Director Matt Hendricks said the confined space makes it easy to manage and there are already plenty of safety procedures in place.

“We learned that COVID-19 does not transmit by sweat.”

Council members also pointed out that health facilities and gyms are being allowed to open.

The Rec Center will do what they can to ensure social distancing based on the guidelines from the health departments, but that will also be difficult.

“We can’t follow that completely because we are not that big to be spread out like that,” Hendricks explained.

Jeff Easter commented that he felt the Rec Center was a place that was easy to control and monitor for safety.

Hendricks told the Council that the pool and gym are used by people of all ages and it does host a high percentage of older adults. It was decided that they will let people decide if they want to come or not.
Swimming lessons would be at least 2-3 weeks away from starting as they need time to promote, register and schedule.

CIVIC CENTER

The Civic Center will remained closed for the time being. Some of the programs currently running including the County meals program will continue to run. The main reason for keeping the Civic Center closed was due to the high congregation point of the elderly, which is a high risk population.

“We have minimal staff to ensure disinfecting as well,” Hendricks said.

The Council decided it would be best to keep it closed for now and re-evalauate.

SPLASH PAD

The Splash-Pad will remain closed for now. The Council decided that it would be best to re-evaluate the status of the city and county at their next council meeting in June.

“For me, you have to go to the river or the lake,” said Rhonda Strebel. “I just don’t see how we can open it.”

The Splash Pad would typically open on Memorial Day weekend.

“It is still kind of cold out and that water is cold, so I think we are okay looking at it again in June.” Strebel added.

Hendricks said a warm, sunny day would bring about 80-100 possible users.

One issue of concern was control of the number of participants and that could only be done with the use of an attendant, which the council did not want to put in place due to budget. It was also decided that it would not be following group size recommendations if it was open.

THURDAYZ AT FRANKLIN PARK

The Shawano Council decided to cancel the Thursdaz at Franklin Park through June and look at it again in July. The anticipated attendance is 300-400 people weekly.

“I just don’t see how we can have any of these events,” Alderperson Jeff Easter said.

There was concern that because people have been waiting for something to do, the attendance could be much higher. Police Chief Dan Mauel told the council that it is a concern.

“Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions that aren’t popular. I just think we are going to find that we see a surge in the numbers.”

It was discussed if food and beverage would be offered. Hendricks said he figures that will be up to each non-profit organization once and if they do hold events at the park.

The discussion did lead to some debate.

“I don’t think it is our job to dictate if people go or don’t go,” Mayor Whealon said. “Personal responsibility only goes so far before it impacts people,” Brian Knapp, SMU General Manager responded.

The Council felt that canceling the whole summer schedule may be too much of a step without know what the situation will be a month from now.

“We don’t want to cancel everything and then find out we could have had these events and wish we did not cancel.”

The Council also decided to keep SMU and City Hall open, but are considering having staff members wear masks.