WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A longtime member of the town's Board of Health on Wednesday said he is happy with the lines of communication between the town and Williams College as the school continues to welcome students back to campus for the fall semester.

 

Dr. Erwin Stuebner also said that while it was unfortunate the college had to change the status of two students to remote learning because of violations of Williams' COVID-19 protocols, it is also encouraging to see the institution take that step.

 

"[Williams President Maud Mandel] had a communication to the community about that," Stuebner said. "They're not fooling around. They're being very conscientious about this and holding up their part of the bargain.

 

"I joke with [Williams Vice President] Matt Sheehy. I say, 'Have you put the bars on the window yet?' But - it's true that they've been that vigilant."

 

Williams students have been returning to campus in a phased approach since last Monday with a couple hundred returning each day and undergoing the first of two COVID-19 tests before moving into their dorm or apartment, where they are quarantined until after receiving the second of two negative test results.

 

The school has a public dashboard to report test results. As of Wednesday, it has conducted 3,266 tests since its testing program began on Aug. 17; there has been one positive test result, a positive test rate of 0.03 percent.

 

Stuebner said he and another member of the town's Board of Health, Ruth Harrison, are in regular communication with Sheehy and other college officials after, earlier this summer, board members expressed concerns that the school was not giving the body a heads up about its plans for the semester.

 

"After a little disconnect between the Board of Health and the college, we've enjoyed a very cooperative environment with them," he said.

 

That cooperation extended to the college putting the Board of Health together with a graphic artist previously employed by the college to help the board develop a series of public service messages for Spring Street, the commercial thoroughfare that runs through the middle of campus.

 

With messages like, "Seeing all of your masked faces makes us happy," and "Join the movement. Wear a mask," the gently-worded reminders attempt to encourage pedestrians to comply with face-covering requirements that have been in place in the commonwealth since May.

 

The messages are strategically placed on walls and on the sidewalks in the town's Village Business District.

 

The college remains committed to enforcing hygiene, social-distancing and face-covering rules on campus. Off-campus, the Board of Health held a video conference with landlords to talk about how they do their part, Stuebner said

 

"We certainly weren't asking [landlords] to be vigilantes and be down there supervising things, but we wanted to at least make people aware," he said. "Campus security will be increasing their presence on Hoxsey Street. They'll be coming down more often.

 

"The college has set up a hotline for people to anonymously report any violations of masking or distancing — not on an urgent basis, more for recurring things. For any egregious thing, people should go to campus security, who may notify the police department, who is authorized to become involved. No one wants to be a vigilante."

 

Stuebner said the Board of Health has the authority to issue fines of up to $500 for organizers of a party that violates public gathering limits.

 

"But we don't want to be like that. We'd rather have everyone do this on their own," he said.

 

Likewise, although the governor's May 1 executive order authorized local boards of health to enforce the face-covering mandate, the Williamstown board has not gotten into the enforcement business.

 

"Getting as much publicity as we can get is the goal right now," he said. "We have the authority to mandate masks on Spring Street. We don't want to do that. And, in reality, it's not enforceable.

 

"The business owners and restaurants can enforce the mandate within their stores. But I think, for us, the message is to just get people aware. We're all in this together to protect each other."