As restrictions on COVID-19 related closures are being lifted, the City of Kalona is beginning to implement their reopening plans for city buildings. The council, at Monday’s meeting, agreed that implementing social distancing guidelines and providing hand sanitizer to the public will need to be in place at city hall to keep everyone safe and healthy. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh announced city hall will reopen to the public with normal operating hours and COVID-19-related restrictions on June 1st. He tells KCII News his thoughts on this reopening plan, “We’ll see how it works. Like with everything it’s open to change if needed. We feel comfortable as staff that we’ve got things in place that we can engage the public one-on-one again in our public building. We’re going to have different conversations than we had to have in the past. We’re going to have those going forward with people to make sure that any public space we are providing is the safest public space that we can make available to people.” 

CEO of the Washington County YMCA Amy Schulte and Branch Director of the Kalona Community Center Marcus Hall also discussed their strategy for reopening the community center and pool. The current plans are to open both facilities in a limited manner next Tuesday with strict social distancing, cleaning, and increased sanitization.