Every other week, the Greenwich Sentinel will bring you exclusive updates on happenings around Town Hall from First Selectman Fred Camillo.
Greenwich Town Hall to Reopen
Throughout the summer and now into the fall, the town of Greenwich has slowly reopened services and buildings. First Selectman Fred Camillo said Town Hall is next.
“We’re shooting to reopen Town Hall in mid-October,” said Camillo. “We’re going to start out opening only part of the day from maybe 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. — but we haven’t confirmed a time yet — and then the rest will be by appointment. We just want to crawl before we can walk, and just make sure that we ease our way into it. We want to make sure that we do it the right way.”
Town Hall fully closed to the public in March after the pandemic hit Greenwich, but it partially reopened by appointment only in June. Visitors will still be able to make appointments in advance if they don’t want to just walk in, and the number of occupants in the building will be monitored. Town Hall meetings are expected to remain on Zoom.
Camillo praised Town Hall employees for navigating the closures over the summer.
“This was all uncharted territory, and they’ve been terrific. Not only did they have to continue to do their work in a different way, but they also had to deal with the uncertainties and the concerns of a public that was also experiencing a pandemic,” Camillo said. “They really rose to the occasion and I think everybody in town really appreciates what they’ve done.”
Board of Selectmen to Address RV Concerns
Camillo said he has received a lot of complaints about Recreational Vehicles (RV) parked on town roads and on private property in residential neighborhoods, so the Board of Selectmen will look into it.
“These RVs pose public safety issues because sightlines [on a road] get obscured and also they take away from the aesthetics and make a neighborhood much less attractive,” Camillo said. “So we wanted to see what we can do there to address that and let the public weigh in on it.”
Right now, Camillo said he’s focused on the issue of RVs parked on town roads. He added that the public will have a chance to weigh in on the issue during future Board of Selectmen meetings as part of a “continuing dialogue.”
Greenwich Ready for Phase 3 Reopening
Gov. Ned Lamont announced recently that Phase 3 of reopening in Connecticut can begin on Oct. 8.
Camillo said Greenwich is ready for it.
“The governor and I have talked a couple times in the last few weeks about many issues, with openings, reopenings and more contemporary issues like high school football. It’s been really beneficial to me. He also asks questions and he also wants to get our take on what’s happening. He’s very interested in what’s happening in Greenwich, not just because he lives here, but because he’s the governor and we’re one of the 169 municipalities under his jurisdiction,” Camillo said.
“[The Governor] has taken the tact where he’s just going to try to gradually open things up as much as he can, and if there’s a spike, you can always pull back. But I certainly support a very measured reopening to get things back as normal as possible, but to just do so in a safe way.”
Business changes in Phase 3 include:
The Increase from 50 percent to 75 percent capacity indoors – subject to COVID-19 safety requirements – for restaurants, personal services, hair salons, barber shops, and libraries; outdoor event venues (e.g. amphitheaters, race tracks, etc.) will increase from 25 percent to 50 percent capacity with masks and social distancing requirements;
Indoor performing arts venues will be able to open at 50 percent capacity with masks and social distancing requirements; and bars and nightclubs will continue to remain closed.
Indoor private, social and recreational gatherings occuring at a commercial establishment or place of business will be limited to 50 percent and capped at 100 people; at a private residence, the number will be capped at 25 people. Outdoor gatherings will be capped to 150 people.
Indoor graduations will be limited to 50 percent capacity, capped at 200, with masks and social distancing. Outdoor will be 50% capacity of six-foot spacing, no cap, with masks and social distancing. Religious gatherings, both indoor and outdoor, will follow the same guidelines as graduations.
Parking Permits
Camillo met with Parking Services Personnel earlier this week, and said that they’ve already started sending out applications for parking passes.
“Last year we had several people in December and January who forgot to fill out applications, or said that they never got one,” Camillo said. “This happens every year, so we really want to make an extra effort to cut down on this. We don’t want anybody to miss a chance to get a parking pass at one of the train stations, so we’re doing all we can to make sure that all people have every chance to get their spots.”
Camillo will continue to remind residents about parking passes through his weekly Eblast notifications. For more information on parking passes, go to greenwichct.gov.
