T-R FILE PHOTOS — Mayor Joel Greer issued an order on Friday for the majority of city parks in Marshalltown to be closed to the public on Monday in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Signs will be posted on Monday about the closing. Some parks — such as the dog park and tennis court — will still be open to groups of 10 or less people who adhere to social distancing.

The majority of Marshalltown parks are closed to the public effective Monday.

Signs will be posted around Marshalltown on Monday morning informing the public of the closing. The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down several retail stores, schools and other organizations around Marshalltown, and now the parks in Marshalltown.

“We’ll still allow the dog park, tennis court, ball fields and disk golf as long people are fewer than 10 at a time and keep a six foot distance or better,” said Mayor Joel Greer.

The decision to close the parks was made on Friday said Geoff Hubbard, parks and recreation director.

“We were looking at what our staff could realistically get down,” Hubbard said. “As of Monday at 8 a.m. the parks will be closed.”

The city has been in discussion to close down the parks for a while.

“We’ve tried to minimize where people come into contact with multiple things like slides and handrails and things like that,” Hubbard said. “We’ve been talking about on and off for the past 24 hours.”

The city also considered going to playground and sanitizing playground equipment.

“We realized that would not be realistic,” Hubbard said. “We didn’t have the staff or manpower to go to do that.”

The Marshalltown City Council won’t meet again until April 13, but because of the civil emergency declaration Greer has the power to issue the order himself.

The closing of the parks effectively closes down almost all of the city’s property.

The campground at Riverview Park is still scheduled to open on May 1, but that could change in the future.

“Other amenities closed to the public include the public restrooms in all city parks, the futsal courts at West End Park and the skate park. To help slow the spread of the coronavirus, the mayor is asking kids and parents to not use these park amenities until it is deemed safe for public interaction again,” according to a city news release. “City staff are not able to sanitize and disinfect these amenities consistently in order to help reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.”

The city is making sure its playgrounds are closed for the safety of its children.

The Marshall County Parks are still open for the time being.

Greer is also strongly recommending people shelter in place voluntarily.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has not issued a shelter in place order for the state, despite mayors in Iowa’s major cities recommendation.

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Contact Thomas Nelson at tnelson@timesrepublican.com