Riley County Commission lifts restriction of 2,000 people in large events; K-State to welcome football fans at 25% capacity

Riley County Commissioners, acting as the board of health Monday, went against the recommendation of the local health officer, and tentatively approved Local Health Order No. 18 with a modification to remove the 2,000 capacity limit.

The order which takes effect Tuesday, and will be in place until rescinded or superseded, will essentially allow K-State to bring fans into Bill Snyder Family Stadium for football games this season. Commissioners were hesitant at first to agree, but ultimately were persuaded by Athletic Director Gene Taylor who stated the university’s mitigation plan is extensive and will help keep fans safe.

“The one thing that probably most places aren’t doing is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars into security, ushers, police and medical personnel to make sure whatever plan they put in place will be able to manage that,” he said.

Riley County Health Officer Julie Gibbs says the K-State plan was a good one if implemented properly, but said it would be up to the individual fans to comply. She was not in favor of a modification to the order and felt the 2,000 capacity limit was necessary to prevent further spikes in COVID cases locally.

“My worry is that if we do see an outbreak from this, we can say no more games, but at that point it’s almost too late. I kind of like the idea of keeping something in place for now and then by the second game looking at what our situation is like,” she said.

Gibbs stated that Riley County’s weekly percent positive rate of COVID cases has dropped to 3.58 percent this week, down from just over 5 percent the previous week.

Commissioners were hesitant to approve the modification at first, with both Ron Wells and Commission Chair Marvin Rodriguez expressing frustration with the university over its pressure on the county to implement a countywide face covering mandate.

“Frankly I was offended by the university somewhat demanding that I mandate masks in rural Riley County at the the threat of not allowing students to return on point. That’s the way I perceived it,” Wells said. “We were talking 22,000 people in the rural county spread over hundreds of square miles and now we’re looking at 12,000, 15,000 people in less than a square mile.”

Rodriguez tried to look at it from an economic standpoint.

“I like Ron (Wells) was offended by the letter we got that we had to do the mandate. I want to learn more. How can we get this thing going. I know you want to get the game going. The school’s losing money, residents are losing money,” he said.

Commissioner John Ford likened to one of fairness and noted if they allowed the capacity limit to go away for K-State, they’d have to do so for other venues too.

“This is one of those scenarios that we do it for everybody and work through the process or do it for nobody. I guess the nice thing is that we don’t have our first game until Sept. 12 and if I read the schedule right we have another three week gap before the next home game,” he said. “It does give us some proper time within our structure to look at and re-evaluate what could happen or what the other home games may or may not look like.”

The first home game is Sept. 12 vs. Arkansas State. K-State’s plan is to limit attendance at the stadium to 25 percent capacity (or about 12,500 fans). Fans will be required to wear masks in the stadium and would screen patrons as the enter. Tailgating will be prohibited in lots controlled by K-State, but alcohol sales will be available in the general seating section for the first time and there will be no re-entry.

Season ticket holders will be notified by the end of the week about the changes.

The other major change within Local Health Order No. 18. The term mass gatherings was stricken and instead changed to events. Those greater than 50 are only allowed if approved at least 14 days prior to the event by the health department.