WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday declined to institute a face-covering mandate for next Tuesday's resumption of the annual town meeting.

 

Against a backdrop of declining local numbers for COVID-19, the board instead decided to continue its stance of strongly recommending masking in indoor spaces and reiterated the places where residents can obtain one.

 

Town meeting, which began on May 17, adjourned to June 14 as its first order of business. The meeting will resume at 7 p.m. that Tuesday at a larger venue, the gymnasium at Mount Greylock Regional School.

 

Prior to the May meeting, a resident obtained a Berkshire County Superior Court order requiring all attendees to wear face coverings at the meeting scheduled for May 17 at Williamstown Elementary School.

 

On Monday morning, Town Moderator Adam Filson told the Board of Health that the judge's May 17 ruling applied only to the meeting in the WES gym and does not extend to the resumption next week.

 

"As a board, our stand has always been that we strongly recommend masks, particularly in indoor gatherings," Win Stuebner told his colleagues. "That's an individual choice. We have refrained from making a mask mandate throughout the pandemic.

 

"I think certainly in a more spacious environment at Mount Greylock and with the marked decrease in incidence of COVID in the community, I see no need to change my mind."

 

The other three members of the board in attendance, Ronald Stant, Ruth Harrison and Devan Bartels, each expressed agreement with Stuebner's assessment.

 

"Of course, vaccination is still the most important thing," Stuebner said. "I was distressed to see that in Massachusetts, less than 40 percent of adults have gotten their second booster, which was a little disappointing. Vaccination is certainly the most valid way to get protection from COVID."

 

Harrison, meanwhile, cited a recent article in the New York Times supporting the efficacy of "one-way masking" that protects the wearer of a tight-fitting N-95 mask without requiring face coverings of those around them.

 

Filson directed the board and viewers of the meeting to the town's website, which has an article on plans for the resumed town meeting and notes that free N-95 masks are available at CVS in North Adams, Pittsfield, and Bennington; Walgreens in North Adams and Pittsfield; Market 32 Pharmacy in Pittsfield; and Big Y Pharmacy in Pittsfield.

 

Filson could not confirm that the town again will have masks available for residents who arrive at Tuesday's meeting without one, as it did on May 17, but said he would check on that with Town Clerk Nicole Beverly.

 

The doors in the Mount Greylock gym will be kept open and fans will be turned on, and the town will arrange seats in a way to facilitate social distancing, Filson said.

 

The Mount Greylock gym has a capacity of 1,500 people, nearly twice that at WES (800), according to school officials. On Monday, Filson reminded the Board of Health that the most recent seven-year average for town meeting attendance is 340.

 

Health Inspector Jeff Kennedy Monday told the board that as of Monday morning, the town had six people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the previous six days. Three of those people were students at Williams College, which held its commencement exercises on Sunday.

 

Stuebner noted those numbers are down significantly from the 63 cases Kennedy reported at the board's May 16 meeting (47 associated with the college at the time).

 

In non-COVID news on Monday, Kennedy reported that the swimming hole at Margaret Lindley Park has passed its first couple of health inspections this spring. The town regularly tests the water from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year.