Published March 26, 2020

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — There is no doubt that it has been a trying month in town between the ever-changing conditions under which everyone is expected to function at work, at school and at play.

There is not one aspect of daily living that has not been affected by the onset of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on our shores earlier this month, as school children in Massachusetts begin their third week of homeschooling, alongside their parents, most of whom have begun working from home this week following the governor’s order closing all “nonessential” businesses in the state as of noon Tuesday while gatherings of more than 10 people in one place, indoors or out, has been barred, all in an attempt to flatten the curve of anticipated illness.

Meanwhile, the state recorded its 1,100 case of COVID-19 and 11th death on Tuesday as the U.S. ramped up to third highest number of cases in the world rankings.

So under these conditions, the Select Board held its first remote meeting on Monday night since Town Hall has been essentially shuttered to public.

Select Board Chairwoman Kate Manupelli pointed out while extending the town’s thanks to its employees that they’re working harder than ever making the transition to work from home to enable vital and time-sensitive work continue to be produced.

 “There was a new change today of no gatherings of more than 10 people and there was a new ‘no contact’ issue today issued by the governor so there’s no recreational or athletic activities regardless of the number of people. We can have no close contacts out in our parks,” Manupelli said.

“We did not close our parks but it did order that that type of use of the park must be refrained from,” she said.

The town had made efforts to prevent large groups from using facilities like the inline skating rink and the skate park at Ipswich River Park, but locks were removed and the players entered the facilities. Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto earlier in the day told the Transcript that the next step may be to remove nets, swings and picnic tables to prevent gatherings at the park. He stressed that passive recreational uses are okay, such as walking along the paths at the park or jogging on the track at the high school. But pickup games like basketball and hockey are not.

Manupelli added, “On behalf of the board I want to thank the Town Administrator and our Police Chief, our Fire Chief, our Finance Director, our Board of Health Director. These are the people that have been working around the clock for us to get things taken care of when the immediacy became clear when the governor issued his orders on March 10. On behalf of the board and the citizens of the town, we also want to thank our first responders. We know and appreciate how prepared our finest and bravest are always.”

She also stressed the importance of residents letting first responders know if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms whenever they interact with them so they can take the precautions to protect themselves.

Manupelli also expressed her thanks to all town employees for being able to quickly “alter the way they are conducting business to make sure the town keeps running for us” while also juggling their family situations with kids out of school and under foot.

She added that both Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Brad Jones have kept in constant contact with town staff. “We already know how dedicated they are to our town,” she said, adding, “many people have been working together to keep things running.”

“We are facing very difficult and uncertain times and there are many resources to assist our residents,” she added. Noting that the best and worst of human nature emerges in times of trouble, she asked those on Social Security to be alert to a recent phone scam and not to give out their personal information to anyone who contact them for it.

But the silver lining is crisis also brings out the best in people too. She thanked the many people in town who have helped with the Food Pantry, those who have brought comfort to the elderly and food to school children, and to the town’s religious leaders for creating remote services for their members, as well as the new volunteer group, “In This Together 01864” which is helping bring together those who need services with those who have time and resources to provide them.

Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto acknowledged that Manupelli had touched upon many of the points he was going to make. He also noted that the town had just been notified of its second “presumptive positive” COVID-19 case.

The T.A. also noted that the town has established a Human Services phone number, 978-357-5300, to coordinate the services of both the Elder Services and Youth Services directors who will be able to match callers to services needed.

And while Town Hall is closed to walk-in services, anyone can pay bills online and the fees for that service are being waived. The drop box is also available at the front door.

The Select Board also voted to enact a Local Declaration of Emergency, a similar document had been approved by the Board of Health last week.