The City of Soldotna’s administration has responded to Governor Mike Dunleavy’s emergency call for Alaskan municipalities to be more cautious regarding COVID-19. As a mitigation effort, the city has closed the library’s interior, only allowing access via curbside service, and they have also closed the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
City Manager Stephanie Queen offered details during the Thursday evening Soldotna City Council meeting: “The library is going to move to curbside-only, and we don’t know for how long that will be the case. The library will be open. The public can call the library staff, but we’ll be limited it to curbside-only in terms of people being able to call-ahead and then schedule a time to pick-up their materials.” With regards to the SRSC: “Importantly, we made the difficult decision to close the Sports Center. There was a fairly large hockey tournament that was scheduled for this weekend, over three days, that involved approximately 20 teams – the majority of whom would be traveling into the area to play games. Based on the Governor’s request, and how we interpret our own responsibility and actions to take, we had to close that facility and could not allow an event like that to proceed.”
Vice Mayor Lisa Parker expressed support for these decisions: “I urge residents to continue to act smart. We were smart. We kind of fell off the curve a little bit and our numbers have spiked. So, let’s go back to being responsible. Wear the mask. Be smart. Keep that social distance.”
City Counselor Jordan Chilson inquired about what conditions would allow for a re-opening, to which City Manager Queen said there are no specifics, but offered assurance that the move is temporary. Chilson also expressed support for opening the library as soon as possible, but wants the Sports Complex opened after the City Council can take a look at some areas of opportunity for safety. He recently witnessed what he deemed to be reckless behavior with regards to masks in the facility.
Enough is not being done by the city, said City Counselor Pamela Parker. She thinks that the time for asking politely may have run its course: “We’re just not doing enough. I think that at every level of local government, state government, federal government, the buck is just being passed down. The mantra is ‘C’mon, guys – you can do this! Let’s all work together! We’re all Alaskans! Wear your masks, please! Stay away from each other, please!’ And that’s just not working. It’s not enough for the cases we’re seeing, especially in our area.” She added: “You think 25 cases a day doesn’t sound like a lot? We don’t have that many people around here! So, I would like to see us be that group that actually stands up in this state and says, ‘We’re going to do something about this. We’re going to put our foot down.'”
