Granby Selectboard discusses COVID-19 memorial and Christmas tree lighting

Date: 11/8/2021

GRANBY – The Granby Selectboard discussed a variety of agenda items including a possible COVID-19 memorial in town and the upcoming Christmas tree lighting at their Nov. 1 meeting.

To start the meeting, Gloria Vivier from the Friends of Granby Elderly spoke on creating a COVID-19 memorial flag garden to commemorate the people who have died from the virus in town. She said there are currently 10 residents who have passed from COVID-19.

Vivier said the proposed memorial would consist of small white flags on stakes in the ground and a sign that would identify the reason for the commemoration. It would stay in place for only two weeks and then be removed by the Friends of Granby Elderly.

“There shouldn’t be any problem with maintenance and the town would not be responsible,” said Vivier.

After removal, the flags would be stored for potential use at a later time. Vivier said that they would hope to put the memorial in an easily visible place, potentially along Route 202.

“So that when people are driving by they would be able to see them,” she said.

She said that, if approved, the Friends of Granby Elderly could put the memorial up in the coming weeks or wait until the spring.

“Because it’s kind of late in the season, I’m not sure if we would do this now because it’s going into November and the weather might not be too conducive to have that out there. But, if we have approval, we could do it in the spring or we could put it out now depending on if we have delivery of the flags and the sign,” said Vivier.

The Selectboard unanimously approved the memorial. It will be placed near the Veteran’s Memorial.

During the meeting, Town Administrator Christopher Martin gave an update on the electronic voting units proposed during the prior meeting. He said that the town would not be able to use COVID-19 relief funds to purchase the units.

“Because in order for it to qualify as an expenditure for those funds, it would have to be used by Dec. 31, 2021. We do not have a Town Meeting scheduled before that date, so therefore it would be an ineligible expense to be placed against those funds,” said Martin.

Martin said they are now looking into using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the voting units, but they are unsure if they will be an eligible purchase.

“We may not be able to use any of this COVID-19 money to be able to purchase those,” he said.

According to Martin, the cost of about 300 electronic voting units would be $9,000. He proposed that, if unable to use pandemic funding, the town could look into putting the cost into their 2022 budget.

All members of the Selectboard voiced that they think it would be great to purchase the systems. Selectboard Chair Jennifer Silva said she was recently able to see the electronic voting units in action.

“I was actually able to sit in on one of the demonstrations. It is really cool how these systems work. I was really excited to even think about us using these at Town Meetings,” she said.

Martin said he will continue to look into ARPA funds and the potential of adding it to their upcoming budget.

The Selectboard also discussed an upcoming holiday meal for senior citizens. The meal will be a lunch offered on Dec. 15. Martin said that sign-ups are being conducted through the Council on Aging office and anyone interested should contact them at 467-3239.

Granby’s annual Christmas Tree lighting is set to take place on Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. The Selectboard decided that they will stick to tradition with their tree and location.

Next year, they would like to look into having a larger cut tree and doing the tree lighting on a Saturday.

The Selectboard said they would reach out to the Granby Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to see if they could put up edible tree decorations for the birds to eat during the month.

The meeting then moved into routine signing and approval of various warrants.

Those interested in watching the Granby Selectboard Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the Granby Community Access & Media YouTube page.