Fairhope, Alabama
Updated.
CORONAVIRUS STATE OF EMERGENCY
Councilman Burrell is questioning the closure of the Quail Creek golf course because that was never authorized by the city council.
The council's March 23rd emergency resolution closed (until further notice) only:
* parks with childrens' playground equipment
* dog park
* pier and north beach
Golf courses were allowed to remain open under certain conditions in the governor's subsequent stay-at-home/business closure order; but at the discretion of local authorities.
"ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION" THE REASON
Mayor Wilson justified the decision to close the course and other parks:
“My decision to close all parks was out of an abundance of precaution both for City employees and our citizens. Based on the data being shared with our local government, the State of Alabama has yet to reach its peak for confirmed cases and deaths. Based on this, I would not support reopening until we see a healthy decline. Council has always had the ability to reverse this decision which I made two weeks ago. The Azalea City Golf course in Mobile closed over a week before ours. We do not have the manpower to monitor a large course and it was opened exclusively to members before it was closed. During this time, it became evident that players were not adhering to social distancing among other concerns. I believe the more proactive we are as a community; we will help flatten the curve in addition to getting us back to “normal” sooner. Other courses have made different decisions for which we all will be affected, unfortunately.”
She made additional comments on her Facebook page later-(click).
EMPLOYEE HEALTH ONE CONCERN
The Times received a message about three weeks ago from the family of a clubhouse employee who were concerned their older relative was being "forced to work" ... and be exposed to the virus there. Shortly afterwards the course was closed.
The epidemic in Alabama is expected to peak on about April 20th.
Updated.
CORONAVIRUS STATE OF EMERGENCY
Councilman Burrell is questioning the closure of the Quail Creek golf course because that was never authorized by the city council.
The council's March 23rd emergency resolution closed (until further notice) only:
* parks with childrens' playground equipment
* dog park
* pier and north beach
Golf courses were allowed to remain open under certain conditions in the governor's subsequent stay-at-home/business closure order; but at the discretion of local authorities.
"ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION" THE REASON
Mayor Wilson justified the decision to close the course and other parks:
“My decision to close all parks was out of an abundance of precaution both for City employees and our citizens. Based on the data being shared with our local government, the State of Alabama has yet to reach its peak for confirmed cases and deaths. Based on this, I would not support reopening until we see a healthy decline. Council has always had the ability to reverse this decision which I made two weeks ago. The Azalea City Golf course in Mobile closed over a week before ours. We do not have the manpower to monitor a large course and it was opened exclusively to members before it was closed. During this time, it became evident that players were not adhering to social distancing among other concerns. I believe the more proactive we are as a community; we will help flatten the curve in addition to getting us back to “normal” sooner. Other courses have made different decisions for which we all will be affected, unfortunately.”
She made additional comments on her Facebook page later-(click).
Councilman Burrell responded later:
The
fact is the City Council passed a resolution that specifically called
for the course to remain open. The Mayor has no authority to close it.
Why would Council
need to take action to reopen it, when we already took very specific
action for it to remain open? That action was ignored. One of the
Mayor’s duties is to execute the council’s resolve, which includes the
action taken to keep the course open. I sent the
Mayor an email on April 9th urging her to abide by the
Council’s resolution and open the course. In that email, I pointed out
that we never agreed to any, nor took any action to close the course.
We understand there were Quail Creek employees with
concerns over working, and we respect that, but we can find people to
temporarily work at the course, and there are dozens of ways to mitigate
the risks to employees and golfers, many of which are being used by
other local golf courses.
EMPLOYEE HEALTH ONE CONCERN
The Times received a message about three weeks ago from the family of a clubhouse employee who were concerned their older relative was being "forced to work" ... and be exposed to the virus there. Shortly afterwards the course was closed.
The epidemic in Alabama is expected to peak on about April 20th.
Comments
Just sayin'.