City moves to re-close river parks beginning Thursday

The City of San Marcos will close its river parks for the second time amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The river park closing begins Thursday, June 25 at 8 p.m. and will be closed until further notice. The city’s dog park, skate park and natural areas will remain open, however, visitors are asked to observe recommended social distancing practices and wear masks if they are unable to distance themselves from people who are not a part of their household.

“We have witnessed our city’s case count skyrocket over the last week,” Mayor Jane Hughson said in a statement. “By preventing large gatherings of recreational visitors in nearby parks, we are doing our part to ensure our local health organizations don’t exceed capacity in treating seriously ill patients. Our council supports staff as they continue efforts to keep our community safe and keep people from becoming sick.”

Closed parks include: Rio Vista Park, City Park, San Marcos Plaza Park, Juan Veramendi Park, Bicentennial Park, Children’s Park, Crook Park, Dog Beach, Cape’s Dam, Thompson’s Island, Stokes Park, Ramon Lucio Park and Wildlife Annex/Wilderness Park.

The city’s move to close the parks comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Hays County and especially in San Marcos. At the beginning of the month, the county reported a total of 353 cases. As of Friday, Hays County had 1,551 total cases. Over the last nine days, Hays County has reported 1,059 new coronavirus cases. 

Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said during a recent press conference that county residents floating the river was among one of the top three activities attributed to the rise of COVID-19 cases. 

“Memorial Day weekend saw a large number of young people at mass gatherings,” Schneider said Wednesday. “At this point, most of our residents should assume that they take the risk of coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19 as soon as they leave their home. In terms of shutting businesses down, again, the county isn't able to make any orders that are more restrictive than what the state does.”

The San Marcos City Council discussed closing the parks during a special meeting Thursday. Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp said the Parks & Recreation department has recommended that chain-link fencing be used to prevent visitors into the river parks. Those who violate the park closures are subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and possible arrest on charges of criminal trespassing if they refuse to leave after receiving a warning from a peace officer. 

“Essentially, the biggest concern there is we’ve done this once before and we’ve learned from that,” Stapp said. “The recommendation from the parks crew, department is that we use a chain-link type fencing to really make it effective this time around. We’re looking at about a 10-day turnaround.”  

Stapp added that attempting to close the parks sooner would put park rangers in a “no-win situation.” City Manager Bert Lumbreras said closing the parks would need to be done in a way that keeps people out. 

“One of the problems that we had before, we had people coming into the parks from everywhere,” Lumbreras said. “It wasn’t just a matter of cutting the fences. They were literally coming in from all different directions. We’re going to try and be a little bit more strategic about that to help out and it doesn’t put our staff out there that are having to do a tough job in a difficult situation.” 

The following parks remain closed as well: the Children’s Park Playscape, City Park Playground, tennis courts, all neighborhood park playgrounds and neighborhood park basketball courts. Rio Vista pool will also remain closed. Public restroom facilities in all city parks and natural areas will remain closed until further notice. 

These natural areas will remain open: Blanco Shoals Natural Area, Prospect Park Natural Area, Purgatory Creek Natural Area, Ring Tail Ridge Natural Area, Schulle Canyon Natural Area, Sessom Creek Natural Area and Spring Lake Natural Area.

The Lions Club Tube Rental will also close Thursday in collaboration with the city’s effort to close the parks.