Mayor Newhard: A Measure of Safety

Stanley-Deming Park has been temporarily closed to the public. The reasons for this closure are directly related to concerns of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Over the past months, we have received a continual stream of complaints about the lack of mask-wearing, even after increased signage and police monitoring. 

Recently, due to a heightened apple season and record visitors and the closure of playgrounds in other communities in Orange County, we have seen a startling increase in the number of people using our playground. The increase, coupled with the intensity of use, makes social distancing impossible. This was a cause for concern, especially since there were no measures in place to limit numbers or to consistently observe and insist on our mandatory mask policy.

Orange County is seeing the anticipated Fall wave and resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The Governor has designated state-wide, high-risk areas; Red, Orange and Yellow Zones – Red Zones are mandated to remain isolated due to a high number of cases in those areas. Warwick is thankfully not designated any of these zones at this time, but we have no control over visitors.  As a measure of precaution and safety, the Board felt it was in our communities’ best interest for a temporary closure, which will give us the ability to re-group and to assess our use policies during this period. 

These are difficult times, and for that reason, we must measure our actions and remain vigilant. We have had to make so many difficult choices over the past months, but important choices that revolve around the health and safety of ourselves, family, and community. The park will reopen, hopefully very soon, with the necessary control to make it a safe place for our children. 

Thank you for your patience as we work through these challenges together.

The next Village Board meeting will take place on Mon., Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. and will be held through Zoom videoconference and may be viewed live by the public on the Village’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/VillageofWarwick.

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