Moving All Boards to Virtual Meetings

The town will begin putting boards and commissions back to work virtually, according to First Selectman Peggy Lyons, beginning mostly next week. The Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing this Thursday, April 16, on an application for a marina and other infrastructure at 4 Boston Post Road, and a handful of other commissions and boards will begin meeting next week.

The town recently uploaded a guide on how to join and participate in these virtual meetings, which can be accessed on the town’s website at www.madisonct.org.

Other government operations and decisions, including special appropriations and the Island Avenue school building lease, are still up in the air, according to Lyons. The town is working with legal counsel to determine how those items can be approved, she said.

The lease approval will require “some sort of virtual town meeting,” Lyons said.

Lyons said the town would have more clarity on these things by the next Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, April 27.

Parks and Passes

Responding to inquiries from townsfolk, Lyons said beaches and parks will remain open as the town continues to monitor potential overcrowding. She said the hope is that the town will be able to “use our beaches normally this summer.”

The town has decided to close Salt Meadow Park only on weekends however, Lyons said, due to concerns that people would park there and walk to Hammonasset.

Beach pass sales have also been put on hold until May 1, Lyons said. They were originally supposed to go on sale April 1.

Lyons said she wanted to avoid selling passes if the beaches were closed for all or part of the summer, as the progression of the pandemic remains unpredictable.

Planning for Referenda

Though the town at this point is still planning on holding referenda on the Academy School community center and school renewal plans this fall, Lyons said she plans on having discussions with Board of Finance Chair Jean Fitzgerald and Board of Education Chair Katie Stein about what that might look like during the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic or what other changes might need to be made

The timeline for those projects would originally have included a lot of activity over the next few months, including the schools applying for grants, establishing a school building committee, and community outreach.

Lyons said the Board of Selectmen “should probably” discuss the referenda at their next meeting.

COVID-19 Update

Madison has now confirmed 41 cases of Covid-19, including two town employees and around five still hospitalized, according to Emergency Management Director Sam DeBurra and Health Director Trent Joseph.

Six of those 41 cases are people who have recovered from the disease, according to DeBurra. One of those is a town employee, who Lyons said could potentially return to work soon.

DeBurra said that the predicted peak for local cases is next week—a good sign for social distancing, as efforts by residents to isolate have likely “flattened the curve,” pushing that peak back from an earlier date.

Joseph emphasized that he has made every effort to stay in touch with everyone who has tested positive, advising them on the best ways to social distance and contact tracing to find out who else might have been exposed.

Joseph also said that he has been monitoring restaurants, and that he is “on them, 24/7” to ensure proper hygiene and protective equipment practices. He urged residents who observe issues or have concerns in regard to restaurants to contact the Health Department.

Though not every food or grocery store worker is required to wear masks and gloves at all times, Joseph said he was strongly urging businesses to equip even people who bag groceries and delivery drivers with masks and gloves, both to protect the public and the employees.

“It shows good will, and it shows responsibility. You can’t have lack of accountability in a pandemic like this,” he said. “To have your delivery drivers...wear gloves and a mask when delivering food, it goes a long way.”

Though overall there have been some positive signs with the pandemic’s progression, Lyons emphasized that residents still needed to prepare for the “long haul.”

“I just appreciate the public staying with us, and we’re all in this together,” she said. “We just hope to see this curve stay as flat as possible so we can come out of this strong, and not have to go back into some strict quarantine measures later in the summer.”