A March 3rd memo was issued to Soldotna from City Manager Stephanie Queen that administratively repeals an action memorandum policy for events and large gatherings at City parks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specific requirements were set on June 24, 2020, and approved by City Council, for the approval of events based on size, and outlined requirements for COVID-19 mitigation planning. Various activities were also prohibited in that June memorandum that included all live music performances, beer/wine gardens, and attractions intended for children, where social distancing and contact tracing efforts would be challenging. City Manager Queen, in her memo, states that the policy language stated that the action memorandum shall remain in effect till it’s amended or repealed either by the Soldotna City Council or the City Manager.
Shannon Davis, Executive Director for the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce spoke to KSRM, saying that the policy repeal is a good thing, “When the park (Soldotna Creek Park) was actually shut down quite awhile ago back in June, the City Administration worked very closely with City Council and they put the restrictions in place that the Administration was given, at that time, the authority to go ahead and lift those restrictions when it was deemed that the time was right. With the way everything is moving, they’re feeling like this is the time. The Soldotna Chamber and the City have been working closely together. Already, we had many meeting regarding plans for this summer. We’ve already been making plans. We’ve been meeting about park layouts and things along those lines. So, we’re pretty advanced into this process already. The officially lifting of the restrictions is going to be a great feeling for everybody just knowing ‘yes, it is a go’, but we’ve been meeting for over a month. We’ve been selling sponsorships. The Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series is absolutely happening!”
As far as the Levitt AMP summer music series, parks staff are working with both entities on the overall event layout in order to provide more space for concert-goers while accommodating market vendors, food trucks and the beer garden. The City of Soldotna is working at the staff level with individual event sponsors to continue incorporating COVID-19 mitigation planning and communication into these events.
With the City Council recently approving an increase in spectator capacity at the Sports Center for hockey games beginning at the end of the month, Queen stated that the resumption of outdoor events this summer is in line with the community’s recovery and the current level of risk.