At the Pagosa Springs Town Council meeting on Tuesday, we got the news that the annual ‘K.I.D.S.’ Summer Camp, operated by the Town Recreation Department, has been cancelled — tentatively, at least.
Here’s how the camp was described last year in the Pagosa Daily Post:
KIDS (Kickin’ It During Summer) Day Camp 2019. Looking for something fun for your child to do this summer? The Town of Pagosa Springs Ross Aragon Community Center Parks and Recreation Department is happy to announce the K.I.D.S. Day Camp is returning! K.I.D.S. Day Camp is open to children ages 5-12.
K.I.D.S. Day Camp started on Monday, June 3 and will run through Friday, August 2. It is offered Monday – Thursday from 7:30am – 5:30pm, and on Friday 7:30am – 4:00pm. Activities scheduled for each day will start at 9:00am and will end at 4:00pm.
And here’s Parks & Recreation Director Darren Lewis, explaining to the Council on Tuesday how the current ‘safer at home’ orders have made it impractical for the Town to hire and train the staff needed to run the program this summer:
“Down the road — and when I say ‘down the road’, something would have to change pretty quickly, by mid-June or so — for us to even try and hire people, to put on any type of camp. But regulations being lifted, meaning, ‘Hey, we can all gather again’ — I just don’t see that happening. I see everything being a slow opening. Gradually, yes, we’re all going to start gathering, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.
“If something were to be lifted, to where we could put on maybe a week-long program at some point during the summer? Perhaps, if things lift, I can put on a baseball camp. I can do a softball tournament. But I’m not going to be able to operate these programs the way they’ve [traditionally] been operated.
“I just want to make sure you’re aware, that — with the public health orders that are in place — there’s no way to do it, the way we’ve always done it.”
It was obvious, from the faces on the Zoom screen, that the program cancellation was a disappointment to the Council as a whole.
Mayor Don Volger then addressed a legal question to Town Attorney Clay Buchner, who was participating in Tuesday’s Zoom meeting.
“What kind of liability issue do we have, if in fact we did something that was outside the bounds of the recommendations and restrictions? Obviously, there might be some legal consequences. And I think every community I’m familiar with has been really reasonable on enforcement of certain things. But what kind of liability issues would we be subjecting ourselves to?”
Attorney Buchner:
“Mr. Mayor, that’s a good question. I think the answer that everybody is concerned with is, that we don’t know [the answer.] There are already lawsuits based in COVID responses and health orders, but we just don’t know where they’re going to go. Certainly, if we were directly violating a state order — which I would strongly revise against — and one of the children at the summer camp got sick, and their grandparents died of COVID or whatever…
“…I hate to go to a worse-case scenario, but that’s how I’m trained to think…
“…then I think you are opening up the Town to liability that we don’t need or want. We certainly don’t want to put anyone in the town in a position where we’re unknowingly exposing them, and then exposing their family, and then dealing with the second and third order of effects that could come of that…
“We don’t know, if these people that are violating [state orders]… if they are subject to a lawsuit…”
Mayor Volger:
“That’s kind of the answer I expected. You know, I started out our ‘Moment of Silence’ [at the beginning of the meeting] with a caution about making decisions based in fear, of being afraid. I also think the decisions we make have to be reasonable and prudent. So we’ve got to balance those things, both — and I don’t think it’s fear-based to go ahead and be cautious about these types of issues that could raise liability concerns for the Town.
“It’s a tough one; it’s really a tough one for me, personally. But I can understand where staff is coming from…”