FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Plans for the city of Fernandina Beach’s holiday events are moving forward -- for now.
At Tuesday evening’s Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting, commissioners agreed to go ahead with special events while keeping an eye on COVID-19 infection rates in the coming weeks.
The events coming up are the city’s Veterans Day Parade, Christmas tree lighting and parade, and New Year’s Eve Shrimp Drop. But will those move forward safely amid the coronavirus pandemic?
“The final answer is there is no answer," Commissioner Chip Ross said. “No correct answer of whether we should allow these events or not.”
Commissioners are still deciding, but on Tuesday, they seemed largely in agreement that the events can still happen.
Ross said celebrations should be allowed with masks and social distancing.
“These events probably don’t, if you’re looking at risk, significantly increase what is occurring already, and we are doing reasonably well in preventing this,” Ross said.
Susan O’Donnell and her husband, Michael, just moved to downtown from Texas and hope to experience their first Fernandina Beach Christmas.
“I think it’s fantastic,” O’Donnell said. “For us, we’re very excited that it’s going to go forward.”
Other locals also said they like that it brings such a business boom to downtown, but they want to make sure precautions are followed.
Commissioner Philip Chapman said allowing events to happen that could increase COVID-19 cases is irresponsible and he doesn’t support having them.
“I don’t want us to be responsible over giving somebody a Christmas present of coronavirus," Chapman said.
He added this should have been discussed and figured out months ago because the city now has its back against the wall.
Commissioners decided to put a resolution on the Nov. 4 agenda so they can vote on whether the events should happen.
The Amelia Island Tourist Development Council already canceled this year’s Dickens on Centre in downtown because staff couldn’t figure out how to keep crowds socially distanced.