WEST POINT — Another month, another failed effort by Ward 4 Selectman Keith McBrayer to open the city parks.
McBrayer moved Tuesday, during the board of selectmen’s regular meeting, to fully reopen the parks system that has been shuttered for eight months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. His motion, predictably, died without a second.
In October, he unsuccessfully pushed for a “partial” reopening — including Kid’s Town, the tennis courts and limited access to the Sportsplex. With winter’s colder, shorter days just around the corner, McBrayer said he wanted citizens to take advantage of what was left of the nice weather.
“I know there are some nice days left that people can enjoy,” he said.
But Ward 3 Selectman Ken Poole, who along with Ward 1 Selectman Leta Turner makes up the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee, said rising COVID cases on the local, state and national level are driving the pair’s continued recommendation to keep the parks closed.
“We are watching the numbers and watching everything that’s going on,” Poole said. “We are still in the position we were in previously.”
Further, Poole said, he would not support a “partial” reopening, as McBrayer suggested in October and floated as a compromise again Tuesday.
“It’s either all or nothing,” Poole said. “It’s either safe enough to fully reopen or it isn’t.”
As of 6 p.m. Monday, Clay County had 776 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health website. That’s an increase of 134 cases and five more deaths since selectmen met in October.
Selectmen voted Tuesday to start the process of relocating the Confederate monument outside City Hall to Greenwood Cemetery.
The vote simply “got the ball rolling” on the process, which the Mississippi Department of Archives and History must approve. Mayor Robbie Robinson estimated relocation would cost roughly $75,000.
In other business, the board:
■ extended the city’s curfew, which runs from midnight to 5 a.m. each day, through Dec. 8; and
■ recognized Rev. William E. “Buck” Buchanan and Michael A. Weaver as part of a Veterans of the Year ceremony.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.