With uncertainty on public gatherings, the town of Norwell is pushing back the date of the Special and Annual Town Meeting.
Town Moderator Bill Coffey met with town officials to discuss the logistics of the meeting, and if it could be held with social distancing guidelines. He felt it could be moved to a later date, and the Selectmen voted to recommend a suspension to July 7.
Coffey says they’ll continue to monitor the situation, and a further date could be possible.
“If there’s no compelling interest to have a Town Meeting, I don’t understand why you would make people uncomfortable and plow ahead with it,” said Coffey. “You don’t want to disenfranchise anyone. We want to make sure everyone’s comfortable attending.”
Town Administrator Peter Morin says the logistics of holding a Town Meeting are not clear. The current guidance from the state on large gatherings is for graduations. The recommendation is that they be held remotely until mid-July, where restrictions would be in place.
“Would we have a facility that logistically, would allow us to carry this off?” said Morin. “Would we be able to do it inside? If we were going to do it inside, we would probably have to do it in multiple rooms within the Middle School or some other building.”
He said the town can operate on a 1/12 budget in the short-term. The only pressing matter on the warrant would be regulation adoption for FEMA flood maps. He felt the Selectmen could act as an alternative to Town Meeting.
Morin said Norwell could learn from other communities that hold Town Meetings in June.
