It’s Official: County Closes Boat Ramps, Parks over Holiday Weekend
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Comal County Judge Sherman Krause on Wednesday closed county-owned boat ramps at Canyon Lake and four county-owned parks through the Easter weekend in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the county.
The order goes into effect at 5 p.m. Thursday and expires at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Public Information Officer Paul Anthony said in a statement.
“We have continued to see a lot of traffic at our boat ramps even as most residents have undertaken social distancing measures in compliance with state and county stay at home orders,” Krause said. “This order provides law enforcement additional tools to enforce these orders at places where people might otherwise congregate and spread the coronavirus.”
Comal County owns four parks – Curry Nature Center and Hidden Valley Sports Park in the Canyon Lake area, and Kleck Park and Jumbo Evans Sports Park in the Bulverde/Spring Branch area – and nine boat ramps on Canyon Lake. Nichols Landing also is closed. Comal Park, which is now leased to the county, remains closed.
The hike-and-bike parks, Kleck Park and Curry Nature Center will remain open over the weekend.
The order is issued as part of the ongoing public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic described in the county’s initial disaster declaration, issued March 18 and extended by Commissionrs Court on March 24. On Friday, Krause issued a Stay Home/Stay Safe order that incorporated the statewide stay-at-home order issued by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on March 31.
Full text of the order closing county-owned parks and boat ramps is available on the county’s COVID-19 webpage, www.comalcountytx.com/covid19.
Refusing to close Kleck Park and Curry Nature Center for Easter weekend is a dangerous decision. Judge Krause refuses to listen to community physicians, concerned citizens, as well as his own commissioner that stress the importance of acting to protect the health and safety of Comal County.