VIENNA — The Vienna Council has closed the city park to all activities except the walking trail and the Vienna Senior Center effective immediately and extending until Friday, May 22 when the council will reevaluate the situation. The order means no one will be allowed on the playground, pavilion, any ball field, tennis or basketball courts, bleachers, or restrooms. Any games or practices previously scheduled are canceled by this order. Police Chief Shannon Thompson said the closed areas will be barricaded and the barricade will be enforced.

At the city council’s meeting Monday, May 4, the council discussed what action they needed to take with the ballpark due to the COVID-19 coronavirus global pandemic. South Ward Alderwoman Brenda Davis said the governor is recommending playgrounds remain closed but is leaving the final decision to local authorities. Utilities Superintendent Shon Westart said people “were on the ballfields all weekend.” Mayor Tyler “TC” James said he spoke with Maries County Emergency Management Director Scott John and Phelps-Maries Health Department Director Ashley Wann and they recommended keeping the playground and ball fields closed. He, too, said they told him “it is up to us. Where do we draw the line?”

Westart said the city can’t police it. The governor has said not to gather in groups of more than 10 people and Davis said kids can’t sit in a dugout. They would need to be closed. Westart said in a ball game, every kid potentially will touch the ball. Police Chief Shannon Thompson agreed, saying it’s a contact sport. James said if there are games played at the park, the fan base will come from other towns. In the Osage League, some teams are playing and others have canceled.

Davis said she thinks the ball fields need to be closed until the council’s June meeting when they can reevaluate the situation. Clerk Sherry James said there are games scheduled for May 5. North Ward Alderwoman Rita Juergens agreed with Davis about closing the fields because even though they are asked to sit/stand six feet away from others, people won’t do it and they’ll be next to others on the bleachers. They won’t use common sense. She thinks the virus spread will get worse before it gets better. Maries County has been fortunate to not have a lot of COVID-19 cases and the council is hesitant to open the ball fields and have people from other places come to the Vienna ballpark.

South Ward Alderman Jesse Jones asked about allowing single team practice only. Westart suggested waiting a couple of weeks before opening the fields. Mayor James said some coaches don’t want to begin playing ball quite yet and others want to play right now.

Davis said this is not about individuals. It’s about what is best for the community, which she thinks is the council’s primary concern. Both Davis and North Ward Alderwoman Reva Hutchison agreed the ball fields need to remain closed for now with Davis commenting she is “all or nothing” on this issue. Mayor James said then that’s the decision, no practices or games until June? Davis said she doesn’t have children but if she did she would not let her child go to the park and play on a team. James said there is a whole other dynamic with the personal choice as some parents will let their kids play on a team and others won’t. The kids have to react to this.

Westart said they can’t lock up the softball field and over the weekend people jumped the fence around the court to play basketball. Davis said this presents a liability to the city as parents could say their kid got sick because the city let them play at the park. Westart urged the council to close the park. Thompson said they can put up police tape and make it obvious to anyone that “We don’t want you in there.” James said if they did open the park, they would have to have a cleaning schedule. Thompson said they’ll come up with a sign.

Mayor James said they will reevaluate the decision at the end of May and the decision likely will depend on whether or not there is a spike in the coronavirus. Thompson commented that people are not staying at home. James said closing the schools was the big thing to slow the spread. Davis said she hopes they can open the park for Memorial Day weekend for families, not for ball games. She suggested the city not take any ball field reservations until June 1 so they don’t have to cancel things.