2020/04/06 - Mayor's Column: This Week's COVID-19 Update
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
We recently decided to do some things differently in our parks and I want you to know why. A little over a week ago, I was participating in a conference call with County Board Chairman Mark Kern, St. Clair County State’s attorney, St. Clair County Sherriff, and sixteen surrounding mayors.
The major part of the conference call was regarding on-going violations of group gatherings in local parks and what that could mean to prolonging the current Shelter In Place Executive. Continuation of close contact is not in compliance with the Executive Order and could cause a major breakout in the local area – which could potentially overwhelm the local healthcare system. Several local cities have locked down their parks completely and others have taken lesser action.
Unfortunately, we have been seeing gatherings at some venues in O’Fallon’s parks that are not in compliance with the social distancing directive. I spent some time observing our parks and saw this for myself, during my more than 25 visits. We must all do our part to “flatten the curve” and by allowing for these large gatherings in our parks to continue, we were failing to do so.
I discussed the options with our City staff and checked what other communities were doing. While making my decision, my focus was on keeping as much of our parks open as possible for our citizens to be able to get out and enjoy. But I had concerns about others coming from other communities to our parks since their parks were closed and possibly spreading the virus to our citizens.
As a result of my observations and feedback from others, I decided that all basketball courts, pavilions, playgrounds, restrooms, batting cages, the skate park, Sports Park baseball fields, and Blazier field (Community Park field #1) should be closed during the current Shelter in Place Order is in effect. O’Fallon’s parks will remain open, but proper social distancing must always be maintained. We will continue to monitor all of the other venues, if violations occur, we will take appropriate action.
I have also had questions raised about drive-by or drive-in services at churches, and about large groups of cars forming parades for different functions. We have checked with the St. Clair County, State of Illinois, and Illinois State Police, and they all state that this would not be in compliance with the spirit of the Governor’s Stay at Home Order. Your cooperation with this is appreciated.
I can tell you that our TOP PRIORITY is the safety and well-being of all our Citizens.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open (virtually, at least)!