Eastside Messenger - May 31st, 2020

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PAGE 2 - EASTSIDE MESSENGER - May 31, 2020 eastside POOL Continued from page 1 However, when asked if the pool will open, Canal Winchester Mayor Mike Ebert said the short answer is, “No.” “Even though the governor says, ‘yes you can open,’ the public health directors are both in agreement and are not recommending opening of pools” said Ebert on May 20. “Even though that is not a direct order, we feel the requirements for us to open the pool will be more than our lifeguards will be able to handle as they have had no training of the new requirements and whoever is going to train them has no training either. If we were to open, it would not be the experience our attendees have had in the past. All social distancing policies will need to be followed, chairs will be a minimum of six feet apart, everyone in the pool will remain six feet apart. The daily admission at any given time would be about one third or less of our normal attendance.” Ebert said there would be no gatherings allowed and attendees would be required to walk in specific directions to enter or exit the pool, go to the concession stand or use the restroom. Breaks would likely be more frequent and last for 30 minutes to allow for sanitizing of nearly every surface people encounter. “If someone who visits the pool does come down with the virus at some point, everyone who was at the pool on the same day likely will be contacted by Franklin County Public Health and will need to go into quarantine,” said Ebert. “This and many more details are why we have not changed our position on keeping the pool closed. Canal Winchester residents have been doing a fantastic job of following the social distancing orders and not every community can say that. Even though this was a very tough decision to make, my biggest concern is the safety of our residents.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance of facilities, including disinfection with chlorine and bromine, should inactivate the virus in the water. CW Continued from page 1 Day festival is a far cry from the first fairs once held in an opera house, skating rink, and buildings along the railroad. According to the book, “Canal Winchester Ohio: The Second Ninety Years,” by Frances Steube and Lillian Carroll, beginning in 1906, the fair moved to a six-acre tract on Columbus and Winchester Pike and later to a ballpark. No fair was held in 1914 and Carroll and Steube could not locate records of another until 1925 when a Canal Winchester Festival and Community Fair was held in October of that year. Names and locations changed through the years until 1960 when three local men organized the first Labor Day celebration with a chicken barbecue dinner and parade. “Many people believe the city of Canal www.columbusmessenger.com Messenger photo by Rick Palsgrove The Canal Winchester Municipal Pool will be closed for the 2020 season. DeWine’s Outdoor Recreation Advisory Group created a detailed list of guidelines and best practices for pool facilities to follow. They included the installation of physical barriers–lane lines in the pool or chairs and tables on the deck–and visual cues, such as tape on pool decks to ensure everyone not related stays at least six feet apart. In addition, pools are mandated to discourage or prohibit shared objects, including goggles, nose clips, and snorkels, and close any non-essential areas where people could potentially congregate. They are also required to develop and implement a reduced maximum capacity to allow six feet of distance between users and develop revised deck layouts in standing and seating areas, so individuals remain at least six feet apart. Two letters supporting the continued closure of the pool were included in written comments shared on the May 18 Canal Winchester City Council agenda. “I personally do not believe the pool should be opened for the 2020 season,” wrote resident Rachel Radford. “This is due to several factors, but mainly people cannot, and will not, socially distance. The virus has not had a chance to fully spread in the public and thus I do not feel there is enough scientific data or evidence to support a reopening. We can’t control people, but we can control if there are places to congregate in large numbers.” Madeleine Dickerson shared similar comments, stating, “Why open up a very small pool packed with kids and adults who won’t be distancing? This could be a disaster and not worth the risk.” Winchester organizes this event each year and that is not accurate,” said Coolman. “The Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival Committee is an independent, non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers who work hard each year to bring this wonderful event to Canal Winchester. The city is one of our biggest sponsors in that they grant us the ability to use their streets, sidewalk and many city workers help with the festival each year. Our committee had been working hard to make this another fantastic event. So much of the work had already been done and a lot of the pieces were already in place. It saddened us to have to make this decision and it was not made lightly, but it was made with the well-being of our community in mind.”
www.columbusmessenger.com Council wants town hall meeting May 31, 2020 - EASTSIDE MESSENGER - PAGE 3 By Linda Dillman Staff Writer Canal Winchester City Council is moving ahead with plans for a June 23 town hall meeting, but it will be a far cry from the previous one held before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic took hold. Ironing out the logistics of not only socially distancing the council, administration and directors, there is also the process by which the public offers its comments, concerns and interactions. Currently, council meetings are conducted in a hybrid fashion with some individuals in the municipal building and others participating remotely. “I think you all know since this whole thing started we have explored a lot of technological solutions and this one is by far the best one we have come up with,” said Finance Director Amanda Jackson. “I don’t think we have anything else to offer so if you have suggestions, we would love to hear them.” Councilman Mike Coolman felt Town Hall meetings have been effective and the public is appreciative of the one attended by department directors. When there were questions asked of council with which they did not feel competent enough to respond, did not recall the information or were not up to date with the latest information, Coolman said directors stepped up and filled in the information gap. “Personally speaking, I would want them there,” said Coolman. “Going back, the reason we are doing this is because of the letters that were sent in and the questions that were sent in. (There) were questions… about the financial stability and they want a breakdown of the expense report. They want to know what the budgets are. They want to know how we are affected by tax collections, so they want to know the process or progress of businesses closing in Canal. Are projects continuing?” Councilwoman Jill Amos said they would need to establish a procedure for signing in and speaking according to the sign-up list and a way to effectively mute and unmute city and public speakers. “We would go down the list and say, Mr. Coolman you are up, unmute Mr. Coolman and ask your question and we can have that conversation and then we can mute afterwards to start the next person,” said Amos. “That way, we can effectively control that chaos and volume control. I think there is a way and we’ll figure it out.” Messenger photo by Rick Palsgrove Bridge over troubled water More than four inches of relentless rain poured into central Ohio on May 18-19 causing flash flooding throughout the area. Pictured here are the high waters of Walnut Creek as the flooded creek rapidly flows under the historic covered bridge in Canal Winchester. Other Canal Winchester news •City Development Director Lucas Haire said the city’s three largest private sector employers–all connected to the automotive supply chain–are all operational in some capacity. “There are a lot of people in Canal Winchester getting back work which is good news,” said Haire. “Residential construction still remains strong. We have not seen any slowdown here and we are still seeing an uptick of where we were last year. I know some of the restaurants here in town had a good weekend with the nice weather and got folks out on the patios and figured out how they are going to operate safely in the environment we are in now, good to see those things happening.” •Councilman Bob Clark reported on a preliminary kick-off meeting on May 11 for the McDorman Municipal Complex. He said the community center would be a high priority within the building. “I heard the possibility of adding a new reading room to that and the possibility of moving the conference room that is connected to the community center and maybe making that more towards the middle and freeing up additional space from that point, but nothing is set in stone,” said Clark. Councilman Chuck Milliken assumed the council will have a much larger room where they hold executive sessions and added he would like to see the potential for the room to be rented out at some point. “I don’t know where that room will be set in the building, but I think it is a good idea for it to not be wasted space when it is not being used,” said Milliken. Public Service Director Matt Peoples said the council chamber will be flexible shared space without fixed chairs, but the council desk will be fixed. Peoples also talked about the size of the council chamber and being able to divide it that so there would be a large room that could be divided into two smaller rooms as well. Another consideration pointed out by Councilman Pat Lynch was keeping up with the technology of web cams and filming/broadcasting the meetings. “Then you will have a lot more people watching from home,” said Lynch. “There are some hot topics coming up where people want to attend. I think we are getting to the point where we won’t have as many people at the meetings like we may have before because you can watch from home, so that might be something that comes out as far as size of those facilities.” Winchester Dental Call us today to schedule an appointment. Winchester Square Shopping Center 614.834.1834 Ladan Pourmoghadam D.D.S. Now offering our 'Smile Plan' to our non-insured patients God Bless Everyone & Stay Safe at Home Malek & Malek ATTORNEYS AT LAW WORK INJURIES WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SAFETY VIOLATIONS WRONGFUL DEATH PERSONAL INJURY SLIP & FALL INJURY DOG BITE INJURY Look Great Feel Great Sleep Great Providing Gentle, Caring Dentistry In a Comfortable Setting. Accepting New Patients Most Insurances Accepted Douglas, Ed, Jim and Kip Malek Ben Churchhill “Hablamos Español” FREE Initial Consultation www.maleklawfirm.com 614-444-7440 1227 S. High St., Columbus, OH 43206
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Eastside Messenger - May 31st, 2020

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