Brookline Town Hall Works On A Plan To Reopen

BROOKLINE, MA — City officials are working to develop a plan to reopen Brookline Town Hall.

A working group made up of staff from the Human Resources Department, the Emergency Operations Center, the School and Public Health departments have been meeting once a week for the past few weeks and developing policies, according to town officials.

"Residents should expect that the reopening of Town Hall — as well as other facilities — will be a very deliberate and careful process that ensures we are doing all that we can to protect the health and safety of town employees and the community-at-large," said Town Administrator Mel Kleckner in a statement to Patch. "Details about what policies and procedures will be in place upon reopening will be made available once they are finalized."

It's not clear what the policies and procedures will look like exactly, as officials wait for more details from the governor on his four-phase approach for the entire commonwealth to gradually reopen.

Baker said Monday all entities planning to reopen would have to abide by mandatory workplace safety standards that include everything from displaying signs about the new regulations to putting in place measures to ensure staff are keeping at least a 6-foot distance from one another, wearing masks and washing hands to disinfecting common surfaces at "appropriate intervals."
There is no timeline for the phases, which will be contingent on public health data progress, according to the Baker administration.

Of 410,032 people tested as of May 13 across the commonwealth, some 80,497 tested positive. The number of people who had died across the commonwealth because of the virus rose to 5,315, according to the state's report. But even as the numbers continue to grow, the amount of new hospitalizations and the infection rate among those tested has been steadily declining.

As of May 13, Brookline health officials reported a total of 325 people had tested positive in town for the virus. The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose to 37.

It's not clear when Town Hall will re-open to public visits, but there's no doubt that when it does it will include aspects that Brookline residents may be used to seeing at grocery stores and restaurants these days.

Other municipalities, such as Waltham are looking into limiting the number of people allowed to enter the clerk's office at a given time to do business, rearranging furniture in an effort to keep both employees and the public safe.

Next door in Newton, officials there said they were looking at the possibility of "health monitoring."

Read more:

• MA Details 4-Phase Approach To Reopening
• Businesses That Can Reopen May 18 Won't Know Until ... May 18
• What Businesses Could Reopen May 18

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, opinion piece.