City to keep Lido Beach closed

Lido Beach will remain closed through at least May 15 as a divided City Commission remains cautious about resuming some public activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a 3-2 vote, the City Commission moved to extend an emergency order closing the beach through mid-May.

In a separate 3-2 vote, the commission voted to reopen public boat ramps as soon as possible. The city later announced the boat ramps at Centennial Park and Ken Thompson Park would reopen Tuesday.

The majority of the commission said it wanted to see more robust testing results indicating the spread of COVID-19 had slowed locally before reopening the beach.

“We don’t have to do everything tomorrow just because we’ve gotten the ability from our governor to do that,” Commissioner Shelli Freeland Eddie said.

Commissioners Jen Ahearn-Koch and Willie Shaw joined Freeland Eddie in voting to keep the beaches closed. All three commissioners said they would like wait for evidence indicating a sustained decrease in the rate of positive COVID-19 cases.

“I think the biggest mistake we could make is to open up the things that we do have control over too quickly,” Ahearn-Koch said.

The board indicated it would revisit the topic at a May 18 commission meeting.

Commissioners Liz Alpert and Hagen Brody voted in favor of reopening Lido Beach effective immediately. Alpert said she did not believe it made sense to adopt different policies for beaches and public parks, where outdoor recreation is still allowed. She also echoed City Manager Tom Barwin’s concerns that closing Lido Beach could result in increased activity at county beaches, which reopened April 27.

“It’s incumbent on us to be cautious, to look at the numbers, all of those things,” Alpert said. “But I don’t see how we help the situation at all just to keep Lido Beach closed with everything else opened up.”

Shaw joined Alpert in Brody in voting to reopen boat ramps effective immediately.

In a third vote, the commission voted to reopen tennis facilities but keep playgrounds and basketball courts closed. The city later announced tennis facilities would reopen next week.

This article has been edited to add information about the timeline for reopening boat ramps and tennis facilities in the city.