Here are the highlights of the Northborough Board of Selectmen meeting of November 9:
- The following Northborough residents were appointed to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee: Lashika Holland, Diedra Wrighting, Mariam Ibrahimi, Hamilton Soriano, and Mary Leach.
- The Board unanimously voted to reduce the alcoholic license fees, common victualer fees and entertainment fees by 50% due to COVID-19. This one-time reduction will show the Town’s support and partnership and acknowledge the struggle these businesses have had during the pandemic.
- Kristin Black is the Town’s new Health Agent and she presented a COVID-19 update. The latest report dated November 6 shows the Town has had 294 total Positive COVID-19 cases; 23 are currently active. The Town is no longer considered a high risk “red” town since the State of MA changed their metrics last week; it’s currently rated as a moderate risk town.
- The big question was answered: If you are walking alone, you are technically required to wear a mask as roads are considered a public area and fall under the new State mask wearing order that went into effect on November 6.
- DPW Director Scott Charpentier clarified what the town is doing in response to residents’ traffic concerns, especially in the Bartlett Street area. Maple Street from Route 20 to Ridge Road has a truck exclusion. Per Charpentier the area of Maple Street from Ridge Road to Bartlett Street did not meet the traffic criteria for the exclusion at the time. Due to the influx of truck traffic in that area because of all the distribution centers (new to that list is Amazon), a new traffic count will be done in the spring. The town is going to continue efforts to keep communication with the trucking companies to ensure they know where their drivers shouldn’t be driving. In the meantime, signage to indicate that a “truck exclusion is ahead” will be installed at the Bartlett/Ridge corner and Bartlett/Maple corner.
- The CSX work on Route 20 in the downtown area by Blake Street hit a bump in the progress and won’t be able to finish it before Thanksgiving. They will have to remove the equipment and patch the road before the holiday and put the project on hold until the spring.
The full meeting can be viewed on the Northborough Remote Meeting channel on YouTube.