Masks are again required at the Waitsfield town office, the Wait House and the Waitsfield town garage.
The select board held a special meeting on August 17 to discuss the increase spread of COVID-19 in Vermont and Washington County and after a brief discussion voted to return to its prior safety protocols. Per the CDC, Washington County now meets the categorization for high transmission when indoor masking is recommended.
Effective August 18, all employees, visitors and researchers at the town office will be required to wear masks regardless of vaccine status, unless they are medically unable to do so. No more than three visitors will be allowed in the town office at any given time. Researchers will be required to make appointments to access the land records. Anyone using the town office meeting room will be required to wear a mask or some other appropriate covering such as a full-face shield.
The Wait House falls under these same requirements as it hosts the town’s public bathrooms.
All town road crew employees are required to wear masks at the town garage and when using town vehicles if two or more staff are in the same vehicle.
At this week’s meeting, the board discussed whether to require its employees to get vaccinated and a testing protocol for those who aren’t vaccinated, but deferred taking action on that until more research can be conducted. Town administrator Annie Decker Dell’Isola told the board that she’d reached out to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and learned that they are inundated with similar calls on the issue from other Vermont towns.
The board also discussed requiring a letter from a physician for any employee who reports they can’t wear a mask due to medical reasons.
At that meeting, the board also approved a request from Melissa Kosmaczewski of Good Girl Productions to film a commercial for Blue Cross Blue Shield from the Bridge Street sidewalk on August 19 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. There will be six crew members filming a pickup truck driving on the Waitsfield covered bridge.
