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Date: 6/10/2020
RUSSELL – On June 1, the town of Russell Recreation Department Facebook page posted that the town beach at Russell Pond would be closed “indefinitely.” The announcement is also posted on the town’s website at townofrussell.us, where it states that the closure, which was decided by the Board of Selectmen, is due to the restrictions Gov. Charlie Baker has imposed on beach gatherings.
Selectman Wayne Precanico, who did not attend the meeting at which the decision was made, explained some of the reasons behind it.
“My understanding is that we would not be able to provide the social distancing that is required per the orders that the governor has in place for guidance. The town beach is rather small ... maintaining the distance required between groups would not allow for many people to enjoy the beach. We also have a lifeguard stationed on the beach and how best to protect that person from COVID-19? How do we enforce the distance requirement – is that the lifeguard’s job? Or do we station a police officer at the beach? There were too many questions that we couldn’t adequately answer, so for now the beach is closed,” Precanico said.
Several residents had planned to attend the scheduled June 2 meeting of the Board of Selectmen at Town Hall to voice their concerns about the decision, according to resident Will Lucardi. However, that meeting was abruptly cancelled due to social distancing concerns, he said.
“A few of us were pretty upset with this decision. The Russell Pond, the beach, is very spacious. We think the decision was premature. The pond is not scheduled to open until the end of the month. Between April 24 and May 24, the commonwealth has seen a drastic decline in cases. There’s our number one problem – the decision was premature. And the fact that the meeting was cancelled,” Lucardi said.
Instead, Lucardi stood in front of Town Hall on June 2 and gave the arguments he planned to present to the selectmen, which were videotaped and posted on social media.
Lucardi said he was aware of the concerns the board had about too many people attending the meeting, and had contacted the Attorney General’s office to get clarification on moving it to allow for public participation. In the letter he received, Kerry Kilcoyne, assistant Attorney General: Division of Open Government, Office of the Attorney General, stated the following:
“A public body may move a meeting to a different location than what was originally posted on the notice when a public body learns that there will be a larger than anticipated crowd for a board meeting or to ensure social distancing rules. In that situation, the board should post a revised notice including the new location and take other reasonable steps to advertise that the meeting location will be moved to a different location, whether that includes a sign at the original location or posting signs throughout the community or on the municipal website.”
Lucardi also wrote to the selectmen, requesting that future meetings be moved to the former Russell Elementary School until social distancing guidelines implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been relaxed.
“My point was first, let’s get a forum to speak to the select board about this. Step one, establish a safe and in person meeting, so we could voice our disagreement with their decision to close the pond. We’re very wary that the town might use the COVID-19 to permanently close the pond,” Lucardi said.
“We’re not trying to pick a dogfight, we just want to have our day in court,” added Lucardi, an international politics pre-law major at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Precanico said permanent closure of the beach has not been discussed. “We are not opposed to opening it in the future, but we need to make sure that people who use the beach are safe,” he said.