Schulenburg Council Takes No Action On Reopening Many Facilities

Schulenburg City Hall along with most other city facilities in Schulenburg remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a meeting Monday night, June 1, the Schulenburg City Council considered but ultimately took no action on reopening city facilities. Walker gave a report on the status of city facilities that have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As of last Friday, May 29, the City disinfected and opened park playscapes. The ball fields at the sport complex are now open for youth sports, Walker said.

The City has not yet reopened the rodeo arena, she said. The Community Center has been reopened for use by the Schulenburg Hermann Sons Lodge, which meets and conducts its dance program there.

The Schulenburg Public Library had planned to open on June 1. Walker reported that the library is still waiting for a protective shield to be installed across the counter before it can reopen.

Walker said no one has booked the Civic Center for the month of June, so it will remain closed. The downtown public restrooms also remain closed for now. She said the City will hire a contractor to perform a deep cleaning of the Civic Center and downtown restrooms before they reopen.

The swimming pool at Wolters Park will likely remain closed all summer, Walker said. She said many cities are planning to reopen their pools in time for July 4. However, pool usually closes for the Schulenburg Festival, which is tentatively scheduled to take place the first weekend in August, unless the pandemic forces its cancellation.

“If the Festival goes ahead, it will not be feasible to open the pool for less than a month,” Walker said. “My recommendation would be to keep the pool closed.”

City Hall is not yet open to the public. Walker said she ordered some sanitizer stations for City Hall, but they are on backorder and have not yet arrived. City Hall staffer Mason Florus suggested that the City could put out some tables with bottles of hand sanitizer in the lobby, at least until the sanitizer stations arrive.

Council ultimately decided to take no action on reopening City facilities. They will reconsider the reopenings at their next meeting on June 15. Later in the meeting, Schulenburg Festival Association President Mike Zweschper gave a report on his organizations plans to move forward with this year’s event.

Zweschper said he has been in regular contact with Region 7 officials from Texas Department of State Health Services. He said providing sanitation services and supplies to Festivalgoers will be the Association’s main priority this year. At this point, he said, the Association still plans to host all of usual Festival events including music entertainment, rodeo, chili and barbecue cookoffs and softball tournament. Also during Monday’s meeting, Police Chief Troy Brenek said things are starting to get back to normal for his department. Police activity had slowed down considerably during the pandemic as most people were staying home.