Newton City Hall Works On A Plan To Reopen

NEWTON, MA — City officials are working to develop a plan to reopen Newton City Hall.

"Each department is creating a plan for work operations, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), changes if needed in physical spaces, cleaning requirements, technology use, transportation," Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a speech Monday night. "The needs of employees will be paramount with training expected."

The announcement comes the same day that Gov. Charlie Baker announced a four-phase approach for the entire commonwealth to gradually reopen as the day the stay-at-home advisory expires draws closer.

Baker said 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.

Meanwhile, Fuller echoed much of that.

It's not clear when City Hall will re-open to public visits, but it may look similar to how it was right before City Hall closed: Tables were set up to help keep staff 6-feet from the public, high-touch surface areas were cleaned on a more frequent schedule.

The mayor also said City Hall staff was looking at the possibility of "health monitoring," but did not go into what that meant. Some businesses are requiring a temperature check on anyone who enters the building. It's also not clear whether health monitoring would require sharing of personal information from staff or the public or how long that information would be kept.

Fuller said individual department plans will be reviewed by the Health and Human Services staff, Human Resources department, and the Emergency Management director before they are approved and shared with employees.

Read more:

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