ODESSA, Texas — Odessa's City Council held their bi-monthly meeting at the Floyd Gwin Recreation Center on July 7.
Seating was clearly arranged to allow for social distancing and increased capacity limits, as officials appear to be sending a message that if those requirements can't be met, business shouldn't be conducted.
These requirements set the tone for a conversation about game rooms, initiated by Mayor David Turner, who was concerned that these businesses may not be following required mask and capacity mandates.
"A lot of citizens have contacted me and say they're not," said Turner.
The mayor is now calling for a closer look to be taken, enlisting the help of the Odessa Fire Department.
"We're going to have them checked out and make sure because we do have to flatten this curve, we had almost 1400 cases the other day," said Turner.
After the council meeting, we visited a handful of game rooms across the city.
Several already had signs warning "no mask, no entry."
Around 12 p.m., the businesses we visited were nowhere near capacity, and everyone was wearing masks, although the possibility remains that capacity is more of an issue at peak business hours.
Ultimately, decision made by the mayor and city council will depend on what the fire marshals see and report.
"We can talk about closing them down, right now the health is more important than anything, we do not want to consider closing any business, but if that will help flatten the curve then we do need to consider shutting the game rooms down," said Turner.
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