Pool will remain closed in 2020

The Tea City Council met May 18 and made the decision not to open the pool.

The council discussed what other towns in the area were doing in regards to pools this summer. They noted Sioux Falls is closed. Lennox and Garretson are set to open June 1 and Hartford July 1. Wild Water West plans to open at the end of May.

If they were going to open the pool, they would have to run at 50 percent capacity, add staffing over and above the regular lifeguards and sanitizing deck chairs, bathroom areas and railings. Councilman Todd Boots asked since they do not have anyone hired yet was it worth it to open the pool. He was worried they would get overrun with kids from Sioux Falls and kids in Tea would not get to use it.

Mayor John Lawler said it takes a minimum of three to four weeks to get the pool ready to open which means the pool wouldn’t open until the end of June and then only be open for about six weeks.

Besides the pool, the council also discussed the Park & Rec board’s suggestions for phases in playing summer softball and baseball. The board presented a three phased approach to starting ball. In phase 1 it is practices, phase 2 is playing games against other Tea teams and phase 3 is playing against teams from other towns. In order to play against other towns, that will depend on what other towns decide if they get to play other teams.

Bathrooms remain closed in phase 1. In phase 2 bathrooms would open.

The city will get signage at the fields helping to direct people on where to go. The council said they could start phase 1 May 26.

Lawler noted that they are planning to open City Hall to the public later this week. Park equipment will be open as soon as the city can get signs put up saying it is play at your own risk and that playground is not sanitized.

The council also held a first reading for adopting regulations pertaining to COVID-19. Right now they have a resolution that expires June 1, which is the date of the council’s next meeting.

They also held a first reading on ordinance 273, an ordinance on the traffic code that involves golf carts.