Covid non-compliance brings pizza place $300 fine; business complaints increase
Board of Health members were dancing around the specifics of complaints about Grafton businesses and COVID-19 compliance.
They mentioned customers not wearing masks. Bands not social distancing with each other or with their audience. There were multiple businesses, multiple warnings, and discussions of fines.
Dan Finn cleared his throat and asked for member Josh Briggs to recuse himself from the conversation. After Briggs vanished from the Zoom call, Finn made it clear.
“I guess the one that jumps out for us is Reunion,” he said, referring to the restaurant owned by Briggs, his brother Shaun, and Sargon Hanna, a former selectman. I”t’s caused some consternation among the inspection team.”
The Board of Health met with the Select Board Wednesday night to talk about Covid-related complaints about Grafton businesses. With license renewals coming up at the end of the year, the Select Board wanted to have a conversation about what the town’s health officials have seen and heard during the pandemic.
It’s not the first time Reunion and its live music have come up with officials, both in town and with the state. The Select Board was notified of noise complaints back in August. In November, the state Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards sent a cease and desist order, claiming that adding live performances to an enclosed tent violated the mandate against indoor singing.
It also isn’t the only restaurant in town that introduced live music as dining turned al fresco in the warmer months — and not the only restaurant that has had complaints. Down the street, the Grafton Grill hosted performances. The Grafton Inn also boasted of live music, as did the John Henry Tavern at Highfields Golf and Country Club.
Cold weather has brought down the outdoor tents. Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday rolled back Covid restrictions, eliminating any indoor entertainment.
“I feel like we owe it to the public not to come down hard on businesses, but to make sure they are complying,” Select Board member Ed Prisby said.
He also noted that Reunion was not fined and moved to comply — but Fancy Pizza, with multiple Covid-related complaints, is the only business to receive a fine, $300.
Patricia Bruchmann of the Central Mass Regional Public Health Alliance said much of the communal transmission has come from people who carry the virus but are asymptomatic.
“We’ve seen cases from as young as three days to 102 years old,” she said. “It doesn’t discriminate against any groups. And once one person in a family gets it, everyone gets it.”
Twelve new cases were reported in Grafton Wednesday, bringing Grafton’s total since March to 395. Since the start of December, there have been 117 new cases, with 45 cases reported in the Grafton schools. No cases have been tied to school exposure.
