October Town Meeting will be socially distanced — and inside
There is just one scenario Town Moderator Dan Concaugh wants to rule out completely for October Town Meeting: he does not want it to be outdoors.
June 20’s belated Spring Town Meeting was on a bright, sunny and excessively hot day, requiring cooling tents and multiple social distancing measures for COVID-19 on the Grafton High School football field. October’s weather, however, is a lot less predictable — it could be a picture-perfect fall day, rain, cold, or even filled with mosquitos carrying EEE.
“So far, we’re planning on (October Town Meeting), depending on what the state may or may not change,” Concaugh told the Select Board Tuesday.
It will be Concaugh’s first Town Meeting since he was elected in June, but he has guidance to fall back on. He assisted former Town Moderator Ray Mead back in June and plans to meet with him again. He’s looked at past records for the October Town Meeting to access turnout and he can rely on the state’s moderator association to find out how other towns are handling crowds in the time of COVID.
For an inside meeting, Concaugh is planning to use the Grafton High gym, which can hold about 80 people with social distancing. Additional seating would be in the high school’s common area, rather than the auditorium.
“We were not going to use the auditorium the last time because people had to physically climb over each other,” Concaugh said.
Fortunately, fall’s Town Meetings tend to be smaller. Time-consuming items like the town budget is reserved for spring, as are more controversial items like debt exclusions.
Concaugh also isn’t sure if it will again be a daytime Saturday Town Meeting — the state allowed for modifications due to COVID — or if it will return to the charter-mandated third Monday in October.
There is only one thing Concaugh can safely predict: “Costs will be a lot less this time,” he said.
