One year after the pandemic shuttered municipal buildings, town officials are cautiously planning to reopen them.
Town Hall reopened by appointment only on March 1, and it has more levels of reopening scheduled over the next four weeks. But Town Administrator Tim Bragan had concerns, and when he outlined them for the Select Board at its March 2 meeting, specifically that employees are not compensated for quarantine time, the board objected to the lack of compensation and asked that the town change that policy. Bragan and Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro are looking into how that might work.
Town Hall is scheduled to open March 22 with limited capacity and to fully open on April 5. Bragan told the Select Board he will be watching to see if the COVID-19 variants cause a spike in cases, and if that happens, the status of the building could change.
Social distancing, masks, and hand sanitation will continue to be required, and Bragan said if there is too much pushback on those protocols from the public, he might return to opening by appointment only at Town Hall.
Bragan said Town Hall’s reopening is possible mainly because of the drop in COVID-19 cases in Harvard. Last week the state reported only two confirmed cases in Harvard, and it reported zero cases the week before that. The town’s total number of cases is 107; most of those occurred in November and December following the holidays. Town Hall closed completely to the public on Dec. 9 because of the rise in cases.
Bragan told the board he is concerned about a spike in cases because town employees must use paid time off to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus. Sobalvarro added that some employees, especially at the library and at Hildreth House, are part-time and have no paid time off. She said quarantine time used to be covered under the Families First Act, which required employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid leave for absences related to COVID-19, and employers were reimbursed from federal funds. The paid leave portion of that act expired Dec. 31, 2020.
Select Board members pushed back on the town’s lack of financial support for quarantining employees. Member Lucy Wallace said it was “very uncaring” of the town not to provide compensation for employees who, by quarantining, were protecting the public and their co-workers. Member Kara Minar said the policy actually discourages employees from quarantining.
Bragan said he talked to other town administrators about the issue, and some said their employees frequently took advantage of quarantine compensation, lying about their need to quarantine. Chair Alice von Loesecke said she strongly suspected Harvard’s town employees were above that.
Sobalvarro said the board could raise the issue with the Personnel Board, but ultimately that board would want to know where the funds would come from to provide quarantine compensation. Von Loesecke said the town put about $150,000 into the Reserve Fund to cover unexpected expenses this past fiscal year, and this would fall into that category. Bragan told the board he and Sobalvarro heard their concerns, and rather than waiting for the Select Board to develop a policy, the two of them will decide how to implement quarantine compensation.
Library Director Mary Wilson told the Press her staff is working to get a process in place to welcome patrons back. It could happen as soon as March 22, but it would be by appointment only. She said her staff is not yet eligible for vaccination, and she wants them as well as library patrons to feel safe in the building.
While the state currently allows libraries to be open, Wilson said few in this area are, adding that the Acton, Bolton, and Boxborough libraries are all still closed; some are open in towns where residents rely on the library for internet access. Although Harvard’s case numbers are dropping, Wilson said public libraries are open to all, not just town residents, so she is moving cautiously. Curbside pickup will continue at least until the building is fully open.
COA has no plans yet to reopen
Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson told the Press that Hildreth House is currently open by appointment, but there are no plans yet for opening the building further than that. She said that as soon as the days get warm enough, she’ll open the porch for social events such as the weekly coffee and knitting groups. Masks and social distancing will still be required, though. Thompson said she hopes by May, many of the town’s seniors will have been vaccinated, and the building could reopen, but she added that she will follow the guidance of the Harvard Board of Health and town administration.
