Marthasville’s Board of Aldermen has deferred a decision about opening its park facilities to public rentals until July.

Aldermen discussed the status of the parks during a public meeting June 24. Park pavilions have been officially closed to public use since the onset of COVID-19 in the St. Louis region this spring.

With other towns in the area reopening their parks, Marthasville aldermen debated following suit.

“I don’t see why it would be a problem,” commented West Ward Alderman Christopher DeVore. “It’s each individual’s responsibility on their own to social distance. We can’t force that.”

But other aldermen suggested waiting another month to observe further changes in the situation regarding COVID-19.

The main proponent for opening the city’s park pavilions is the Marthasville Area Chamber of Commerce, which organizes free park concerts in partnership with the Warren County Fine Arts Council.

A concert had been scheduled for June in Marthasville, but was canceled the week prior due to a lack of a decision from aldermen, according to the Chamber.

“We felt it was best to go ahead and cancel out of respect for those scheduled to perform and the organization that was preparing the food. Fingers crossed that July will be a go,” the Chamber wrote on its Facebook page on June 18.

West Ward Alderman Leo Meyer proposed waiting until the board’s July 15 meeting to make a final decision about the parks. That would provide more than a week’s notice for the Chamber to hold its concert.

“That gives us more time to see if something clears up,” Meyer said.

Mayor David Lange said Missouri emergency management officials are tracking continued increases in COVID-19 cases. With other states seeing increasing cases, Lange agreed that it could be wise to wait another month.

Without any other impetus to open the parks before July 15, the aldermen agreed unanimously to withhold pavilion rentals until their next meeting.