Town moves toward appointment-only office visits

The Canton Select Board on Monday night voiced support for Town Administrator Charlie Aspinwall’s recommendation to limit public access to town offices by appointment only while encouraging phone calls and emails to conduct town business.

Town Hall will soon be open by appointment only. (Moira Sweetland photo)

The intent of the move is to protect town employees from exposure to COVID-19. As of Wednesday, December 9, Canton had reported 591 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 107 probable cases since March, an increase of 75 cases from the week before.

Aspinwall suggested an effective date of December 14, but Select Board Chair John Connolly felt it was too soon and that residents needed more advance notice. Both were due to meet this week to map out an implementation plan.

The proposal was initially opposed by Connolly and Vice Chair Mike Loughran, who cited public inconvenience. Members Mark Porter, Lisa Lopez and Chris Connolly supported the plan and agreed that the board should be proactive. The proposal also has the support of the town’s COVID-19 Task Force.

Under Aspinwall’s plan, visitors could make an appointment with a specific office and conduct the business in a location chosen to minimize exposure. Town Hall would have designated workstations for the visits, including the Sherman Street vestibule; the main floor foyer, and the Verizon side entrance. The Sherman Street vestibule would serve as a mail drop-off center.

In advocating for the new policy, Aspinwall noted that cases in Massachusetts have radically increased in recent weeks. He added that cases in Canton have risen by 25 percent since October 23 and the effect of Thanksgiving gatherings has not yet been determined.

Aspinwall said an appointment policy would allow business to continue while protecting staff and visitors and making it easier to conduct contact tracing if needed. He added that many other communities are successfully operating under a similar model.

Once implemented, Aspinwall proposed to have the issued reviewed in January. To reopen Town Hall to its current state, Aspinwall suggested that the town select specific metrics that would need to be reached over a specific period of time, similar to the governor’s benchmarks for state reopening.

If approved, policy implementation would begin after announcements via social media, newspapers, posts on the town website, and Reverse 911 calls to residents.

John Connolly later told the Citizen that the plan would be reviewed continuously, and the goal would be to “open up Town Hall as quickly as possible …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Dec 11 2020. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.