Now that the weather has gotten a little warmer, people are beginning to ask us questions about the water park. The Carlsbad Water Park is traditionally open between Memorial Day and Labor Day and has been a source of pride in the community for several years now.
Outdoor recreational facilities are allowed to be open at 50% capacity when you are “Green,” so we certainly believe we will be able to open this summer as long as we can keep the COVID-19 numbers down. We will still be required to complete an inspection in order to open, and we have reached out to the state to move forward with this process.
How can you help? We do need to fill all of our lifeguard positions for this summer. Our lifeguards protect both the water park and the Carlsbad Beach area. Our next training course will be April 10,11, 17 and 18. You must be at least 15 years old. There is a registration cost, but we will reimburse you if you become a city employee. For more information, please call Brad Alpers at (575) 302-0152.
COVID update: Information on our next “color” will come out on April 7. Eddy County is currently in the “Green”- and if we can once again meet the same goals we met this time, we will move up to “Turquoise.” However, if our numbers get higher we will be at risk of moving back into the “Yellow” category. We had 8 positive cases reported in Eddy County on Thursday and 8 positives reported on Wednesday, which were both higher than they should be. Please help us keep these numbers down while we continue to re-open. The Department of Health now reports that 24.2 percent of Eddy County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine. At this point, vaccine doses are generally available to anyone interested – so please let us know if you are having trouble receiving one.
House Bill 11 has been signed into law, which will deliver $200 million in grants to support New Mexico businesses to ease the hiring or rehiring of employees. This is a program for smaller businesses with 75 or fewer employees. Applications will be managed by the New Mexico Finance Authority at www.nmfinance.com.
The strangest news of the day we’ve received is several reports of a mysterious light floating in the sky north of Loving heading in the direction of Hobbs. This “unidentified flying object” was photographed by several people late Thursday night. We have heard that a number of high altitude experiments are frequently conducted in the Ft. Sumner area, so perhaps that is the issue. We will certainly let you all know if any experts come forward to explain the phenomenon.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway