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08/25/2020 02:25 PMOn Aug. 20, the Chester Board of Finance (BOF) approved a $9,000 request from the town’s Long-Term Recovery Task Force for items presented as potential short-term solutions to issues in town arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chester Board of Selectmen (BOS) had unanimously approved the request at its Aug. 18 meeting and referred it to the finance board for final approval.
A breakdown of the items and costs are $2,800 for line painting equipment and paint for social distancing circles, $1,000 for a survey of the town’s 500 registered businesses, $4,200 for the rental of handicapped-accessible portable toilets with hand-washing capabilities, and $1,000 in contingency funds.
The Long-Term Recovery Task Force was put into place in April to ascertain and develop solutions to the community’s needs during the pandemic. It contains numerous subgroups staffed by volunteers that explore different aspects of daily life in town.
These subgroups, or action teams, cover topics related to finance, health and safety, regulations, arts and culture, tourism, sustainability, and the environment, as a few examples.
A town survey, which was distributed to all residents in the spring to gauge how they had been affected by COVID-19, informed the task force’s work.
“With regard to the results of the survey that was done in May, it showed basically that there were a lot of unmet needs in Chester, but they were mostly needs that we could anticipate,” said First Selectman Lauren Gister on Aug. 20. “Our residents need to feel like we are doing everything that we can to keep a sense of normalcy while still keeping them safe.”
Chester Emergency Management Director Ray Guasp and Fire Chief James Grzybowski, who head up the task force, made the monetary requests on behalf of the group.
“We feel that what we are presenting today are the beginnings of this recovery for the Town of Chester and are needed aspects and assets for us to…move around safely [and] provide mental wellness as well as physical wellness during the COVID environment,” said Guasp on Aug. 18.
Guasp said that as rates of infection have decreased, the town has developed certain recreational activities, such as movie night or yoga, for residents to enjoy.
“One of the things that bubbled up early on was social distancing and social distancing circles and us being able to paint those into the Meeting House lawn, North Quarter Park, and some areas at the school as well,” said Guasp.
For the circles to retain their visibility over a long period of time, Guasp and Grzybowski proposed the first approved item, a line painter and paint that could be used on grass or asphalt.
“One thing that allows people to feel like they can go and [feel that] their personal space, social distanced space…is respected and protected is to draw these social distancing circles, whether it’s for yoga or karate or movie night or what have you, it really helps people feel like they can attend and that some care is being taken to make safe arrangements,” Gister said on Aug. 20.
The second item approved for funding, a business survey, would help gather information on how businesses are faring during the pandemic, what the town can do to help them recover and what support they would need to continue operating if there was a resurgence of the virus in the fall.
“We feel that this survey that goes out for the businesses is as equally important as the one that was sent out for the rest of our community population,” said Guasp. “They live here. They do business here. They thrive here and they count on us to be able to help them and support them in a time of need.”
The third approved item, portable toilets, would provide public bathrooms in the downtown area. The new toilets would improve on the current facilities offered at the Water Street parking lot, providing handicapped accessibility and handwashing capabilities. Fencing and screening would surround the units.
The main reason for this request was because “it’s really been determined that it’s not safe to have public bathrooms in the stores, it should be discouraged,” said Gister on Aug. 20. “The retail stores and the restaurants do not have the ability to keep [their] restrooms clean and infection free to the general public while still doing their regular functions.”
The last item, which is $1,000 in contingency funds, would go toward small, miscellaneous costs associated with the approved items or activities needed to help with different aspects of the town’s recovery, such as licensing fees for movies shown on movie night, as an example.
Recreational activities such as “these are important to be able to keep our community feeling vital and comfortable and that people aren’t locked in their home,” said Gister.
“This is not going to be the be all and end all of what we end up having to do to deal with COVID and to allow our town to recover, whatever that means to you,” said Gister. “It means different things to other people. For a business, it might mean having enough customers and for a family whose been basically stuck in their house for four months with their little kids, it might just mean being able to get outside and do something fun with their family.”
The long-term recovery task force considers these items as important to addressing some of the more immediate, short-term issues of dealing with the pandemic, as it develops a more long-range recovery plan. Future requests for other items necessary for Chester’s recovery from COVID-19 are planned.
Any future recommendations requiring funding would need approval from the BOS and BOF.