BUFFALO, N.Y. — Traditional elements of fun in the sun or just plain relief from the heat may not be happening come late June or early July in some communities.
For example public pools in the Town of Tonawanda could also be rather quiet this summer.
"At this point our plan is not to open the pools — ah for a variety of reasons," said Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger.
Emminger says those reasons include the basic point of current COVID-19 requirements.
"Do we ask our teenage lifeguards to enforce the social distancing. I think that's asking a lot of teenagers," Emminger said.
But it also goes much deeper for local communities like the City of Niagara Falls, which are seeing battered budgets with lower tax revenue and the overall costs of combating COVID-19.
"Our summer programming is postponed," said Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino. "We haven't really figured out the whole financial piece — hiring lifeguards, hiring the folks for the parks. So there are a lot of things that are sorta up in the air."
A spokesman says the City of Buffalo is also looking at pandemic related issues right now with the pools and splash pads which traditionally open in early July once school has let out.
Overall summer recreation programs could be cut or appear on a limited basis like summer camp only for Tonawanda.
Then some community operated summer sports leagues are on hold right now as they await more safety guidelines or appear in later reopening phases.
And what about cooling centers for seniors in a heat wave. Well again there's social distancing and Restaino says, "A lot of it has to do with being able to provide staffing for safety."
Local public officials stress that their planning even for summer recreation has to be flexible right now. They are waiting to see the course of the pandemic and whether there is more funding from Washington. Perhaps programs could be restored. But this also could be a bummer of a summer in various ways.