Colchester Beach in Essex will remain closed until at least mid-July.
After a lengthy discussion Monday night, council unanimously voted to reopen splash pads, but keep the beach closed out of an abundance of caution.
Mayor Larry Snively says administration is now working on hiring security for the beach which could potentially be open by Friday, July 17 if all goes to plan.
He says council had no choice but to keep the beach closed until proper safety measures are in place.
"I feel really bad about people being locked down at home, and they pretty well are, they're locked down at home in this extreme heat. I'm sure if we opened the beach tomorrow, even without the residents from Windsor, our beach would be pretty full."
While he feels bad for residents, Snively says this is the best decision for the current situation.
"Our residents, there's a lot of them that love to get down to the beach and I don't blame them. Who wants to be at home? But I want to go on record, I'm not going to take a chance and I'm not to support opening this beach with this COVID-19 that's going through our community."
He says council doesn't want to be responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
"I don't want to take that chance of having a few hundred people on that beach and having one person that's infected. So in no way would I support opening that beach until we get really control of this COVID virus."
Initial estimates for beach security for the remainder of the summer came in at just over $13,000.
Council voted to close Colchester Beach in late June after several complaints from residents about underage drinking, littering and overcrowding.
The town hopes to have its splash pads open by Friday, July 10.