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Date: 12/15/2021
SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Selectboard met to discuss a variety of agenda items on Dec. 7. One controversial topic of discussion was a possible mask mandate after rising COVID-19 cases and rapid omicron variant spread.
To begin the meeting, the Selectboard and Town Administrator Lisa Wong addressed a recent incident of vandalism at Beachgrounds Park. According to Wong, the welcome sign was vandalized with disturbing, racist and antisemitic hate messages.
The incident was reported by a resident on Dec. 5. It is now being investigated by the South Hadley Police Department and the sign has been removed.
“This act of hate is unacceptable and it is not welcome anywhere. The war to address antisemitism and racism is continuous and we will do this as a community. We thank the resident who brought the vandalism to our attention and we are committed to creating a safe community for all. Hate has no home here,” said Wong.
The Selectboard called on residents to become educated on racism in all forms and to continue to commit to non-racist behavior. Wong asked for residents to contact the police at 538-5050 if they see anything similar to this incident.
The meeting then discussed the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) tax classification. They made a motion to adopt a factor of one for all classes of property in the town for FY22. This motion maintains the current tax rate calculations.
Wong then went over recent COVID-19 data. According to a report from Dec. 2, South Hadley currently has 61 active cases. She said there is a definite increase in concern about COVID-19 due to the rise of the omicron variant, cold weather and holiday gatherings.
“We’re definitely seeing a movement of being precautious,” said Wong.“The cases right now are still primarily from delta, however in a meeting with the governor there were concerns expressed about the quickness of the current variant that is spreading a lot faster than the delta variant.”
She noted that the town also saw a spike in cases at this time last year. She said that they will be continuing to watch these numbers from week to week and encouraged residents to continue to get vaccinated.
Currently masks are required in public town buildings until at least Jan. 15. In private indoor spaces such as restaurants and bars, there is only a mask advisory. Businesses are allowed to enforce masking at their own discretion.
Wong said that the state government told towns that they will not be implementing a statewide mask mandate. Instead, they are leaving that decision up to individual municipalities.
This prompted the Selectboard to discuss the idea of enforcing a mask mandate in town.
Selectboard member Sarah Etelman emphasized how rapidly COVID-19 cases are rising in the state. She said that they should be looking at statewide numbers along with South Hadley numbers given that non-residents come into the town every day.
“I think we have to do more than what we’re doing. I think placing the onus on businesses to try and regulate something that we’re not standing behind is not fair,” said Etelman. “Our job is to protect our residents and, again, we are protecting our residents from the virus that’s coming in from all over. It’s not just from people who live in South Hadley giving it to people who live in South Hadley.”
She said that she wants the Selectboard to step up and put in a mask mandate immediately. Selectboard member Andrea Miles agreed.
“I think we have sat by and watched our state government not do what they need to be doing and so we need to be doing it,” said Miles.
Selectboard member Carol Constant asked the question of how masks will be enforced. If the board imposes a mandate in private spaces and they are not followed she asked how the town plans to handle this. She mentioned calling the police or escalating the situation further.
“Are we ready to do that?” Constant asked.
“I don’t know what other towns are doing, but I think that’s asking if we are willing to incur an uncomfortable situation versus having a mass spread event through our town,” said Miles in response.
Chair of the Selectboard Jeff Cyr mentioned the point of personal choice and responsibility. He said that he doesn’t know if implementing a mask mandate would work, if there would be enforcement or if there would be negative implications for businesses with this.
“I think what this comes down to is everybody’s aware of what can happen with COVID-19. Everybody’s aware of what’s evolving with COVID-19. It’s still a personal choice whether or not you get vaccinated, whether you get a booster … so I think what it comes down to, for me personally, is the individual,” said Cyr.
Both Cyr and Selectboard member Chris Geraghty brought up the idea of asking businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Health to weigh in on this at a future meeting.
Etelman said that she was concerned with this timing. She emphasized how important it is to not make the conversation controversial or political and that if they didn’t make a decision now they would be waiting until late December or early January 2022.
“We are the government. We are supposed to do the right thing. We are supposed to keep people safe,” said Etelman.
President of the South Hadley & Granby Chamber of Commerce Michelle Theroux was listening in on the meeting. The Selectboard gave her the opportunity to speak on behalf of the chamber and local businesses.
“What I can say regarding our members and what we’ve heard so far, is that they do not want a mask mandate. They would rather leave it up to the individual business to make their choices,” said Theroux.
She said that this is based on polling the chamber did about six to eight months ago. According to Theroux, some businesses said that they were worried masks would turn customers away and lessen their business which could cause them to permanently close.
“We want to be mindful of that as well as we balance all of these various interests as we go forward,” said Theroux.
She said that the Chamber of Commerce would be happy to partner with the Selectboard and the Board of Health to get more information and discuss the matter further.
After much debate, the Selectboard settled on setting up a meeting with both entities. The meeting will give the Chamber time to poll a variety of businesses again and for the Selectboard to come prepared with new COVID-19 data and new active case numbers.
Those interested in viewing the South Hadley Selectboard Meeting are encouraged to visit the South Hadley Community Television page.