The Carthage City Council on Friday approved a plan to gradually return city services and offices to normal operations in May and June after about a month of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Council adopted a plan to phase in reopening of city services and facilities in May and June.
Council members spent an hour debating whether to reopen baseball and softball fields and basketball courts in the parks as called for in the plan written by the city staff.
The plan proposed by the city staff calls for reopening softball, baseball and soccer fields and basketball courts on Monday, May 4.
Two different amendments were proposed by council members, one closing baseball and softball fields, soccer fields and basketball courts to all activities until the end of May and the other closing those fields to all but organized activities by sanctioned city organizations until the end of May.
Council members expressed concern about whether coaches could enforce social distancing among young children playing in sports that typically require close contact between people of different households.
Neither amendment was adopted.
City staff members reassured council members that Parks Director Mark Peterson was working with the baseball, softball and soccer organizations to plan for practices that include social distancing rules that will keep players at least six feet apart.
The plan for the youth baseball and softball programs, held at the Fair Acres Sports Complex, is for tryouts to begin the week of May 4, practices to be held through May 31 and games to start June 1.
Fair Acres Y Youth Soccer practices will start on May 18 with games to begin on June 1. The plan says practices will be modified to create spacing for players.
Playground equipment at all the parks in Carthage will continue to be taped off until at least the end of May to prevent possible contamination of surfaces that can’t be cleaned routinely.
Park restrooms will reopen on May 4.
Other plan highlights
• The Carthage Recycling Center, 1309 Oak Hill Road, will reopen on a modified schedule on Thursday, May 7, to allow for the disposal of yard waste, drop off of small tree limbs and loading of compost and wood chips.
The facility’s schedule for the next two weeks will be 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9 and Mat 14-16.
Full operations, including recycling operations and the availability of dumpsters, will not start at this time. The Carthage Public Works Department has a post describing the operations of the recycling center on its Facebook page.
• The city is still hoping to reopen the Municipal Pool on Memorial Day weekend.
• The first Food Truck Friday event in Carthage’s Central Park is slated for June 12.
• The Carthage Over-60 Center is aiming to reopen on June 1. The Area Agency on Aging, Region X, which leases the center from the city, says it will modify seating to comply with social distancing guidelines.
• The lobbies at Carthage City Hall, the Public Works office, Police Department, Fire Department and Parks Office will remain closed at least through May 18 due to social distancing rules and limited access requirements.
The city says essential city functions will continue as currently provided and some employees will be allowed to continue to work from home or in phases and split shifts.
“The city will continue to monitor the overall situation and make adjustments as necessary with the goal of normal operations by the end of May 2020,” the city said in its plan. (Personal protective equipment) will be provided to employees requesting them.
• Carthage City Taxi will phase in limited service starting on May 18 with the goal of normal operations by the end of May. People can check with the police department for details.
• All organized activities at the Carthage Golf Course have been canceled through May. The plan is tentatively to restart operations on June 1 and monitor the pandemic situation.
• The city is accepting reservations for small events, no larger than 30 people, at Carthage Memorial Hall starting on May 19 and running through May 31. No alcohol will be served at these activities because security will not be available.
• City Court will resume hearings on May 28. Chairs in the main auditorium will be placed to comply with social distancing guidelines.
People who have not received notice of a new court date should check www.courts.mo.gov on Missouri case.net to see the new court date.
• The Carthage Civil War Museum will remain closed through May 18. When it reopens on May 19, the entry will be modified by adding a podium away from the staff to allow people to sign the register. Staff will continually clean places that are routinely touched by visitors.
