WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Parks leaders in Wausau have delayed the opening of the city’s outdoor swimming pools through at least July 1st.
But, according to City and County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Director Jamie Polley, even that date is in question because of the Badger Bounceback Plan put in place by Governor Tony Evers and its three-staged approach to large gatherings.
Polley says the state would need to be in Phase two of the plan before they could even think about offering limited access to the pools. “In phase two, the stipulation is no more than 50 people in any one area. We [have] to have ten guards to open the facilities, that’s a requirement. One or two staff would be in admissions, so we are looking at maybe allowing 35 people into the pool at a time.”
Polley says while concessions stands would not open, the one or two people required to run them would still be on duty to do additional cleaning and sanitizing.
Once the state hits phase three, all bets are off and the pools would be able to admit anyone up to capacity.
Of course, that scenario assumes that the state reaches phase two of the Badger Bounceback Plan. Wisconsin currently doesn’t qualify for phase one, and Polley says based on her discussions with the County’s health department it could be a while before we reach that stage.
“She [County Health Officer Joan M. Theurer] thinks it will be highly unlikely that we would be in Phase Two by the end of June, beginning of July.”
It’s worth noting that the Badger Bounceback Plan that Polley was referring to is the subject of a Wisconsin Supreme Court case that will be heard Tuesday morning. Republicans in Madison have sued the Governor and DHS Secretary to keep an extension of the Safer at Home order from being implemented. A decision on the case could come as soon as Tuesday afternoon.
With that in mind, the committee voted to delay the opening of the pools, with an eye towards making a final decision later this month. Polley says that’s important because the city already has a full staff of lifeguards hired for the upcoming season, and they need to know if they will have summer jobs or not. “We can’t keep stringing our kids along about whether they have a job. We need to help them make that decision, [while] looking at the safety of our pools.
“Our staffing is probably the biggest issue,” she added.
There’s also the issue of what to do with those that have already bought pool passes under the premise of a full season beginning in June. No decision on that was reached Monday.
If the pools open in early July that would give Wausau and the area a season of roughly six weeks, ending in August.
According to the details of Monday’s motion, which passed unanimously, a final decision on the matter will come no later than June 2nd, which is the date of the committee’s next regularly scheduled meeting. Alderman Pat Peckham noted that the committee could schedule a special meeting before that date if a decision needs to be made sooner.
Parks and Recreation officials from Rothschild and Weston sat in on Monday’s meeting and discussed the need for a uniform approach to the season. That’s because if one area closes pools and another one doesn’t, those in the area would likely flood the open pools as they look for outdoor recreation.
Also on Monday, the committee voted Peckham to once again serve as chairman. The vote was not unanimous, as Tom Killian was also nominated. He was instead voted as vice-chairman in an uncontested race.
