WHATELY — The Selectboard voted Wednesday night in support of reopening Town Offices on a limited basis.
Effective Monday, the Town Offices at 4 Sandy Lane will be open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon. All other days and times will remain by appointment.
“The recommendation would be that we reopen as we did, in the same fashion, when (COVID-19) cases declined last spring,” said Town Administrator Brian Domina. “I thought we did a good job.”
He said only the front lobby will be open to the public, and that there is still a Plexiglas partition above the town clerk’s window. One person will be allowed at the window at a time.
“I feel good about the setup we have,” he said. “It’s very minimal contact from employees to the public.”
Select Board member Jonathan Edwards said if the Town Offices can reopen safely, “that’s fine.”
“But keep in mind, the mask mandate is still critical,” he continued. “If you want to do it, go ahead and do it, but the cautionary tale is you have to be careful.”
Select Board Chairman Fred Orloski said he has no problem with reopening, as long as employees are OK with it.
“If there’s a large surge of people coming in and people milling around, … or they’re not wearing masks, then I guess we can make another decision,” he said.
Select Board member Joyce Palmer-Fortune clarified that masks are still required within the building.
“I was for this (reopening) two weeks ago,” she said, “and I’m still for it.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne