HADLEY — The town Board of Health instituted a mandatory face mask order along the Route 9 retail corridor Monday, but police will not enforce it.
The Selectboard voted 4-0 Wednesday to prohibit the police from enforcing the order.
The decision also prohibits inspection services and Fire Department personnel from enforcing the order, which the Board of Health instituted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a written statement, Selectboard Chairman David Fill said: “Our Police Department is far too busy to become the Mask Police and be forced to ticket people socially distanced or alone in a parking lot just because they are not wearing a mask. Preventing Covid is important but lets use some common sense.”
The Board of Health last month said the order would go into effect Aug. 3, but that was put on hold because the idea had not been vetted with the towns’s Unified Command working group, which includes police, fire and inspection services.
Along with the health department, the Unified Command includes Fill and Town Administrator David Nixon.
The mask order says: “The Board’s Health Agent and other agents designated by the Board shall have the authority to enforce this Order as necessary. The designated enforcing authority may call on the support of the Hadley Police Department if necessary.”
“A person who violates any provision of this Order shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of fifty dollars ($50) for a first offense; one hundred dollars ($100) for a second offense; and two hundred dollars ($200) for a third or subsequent offense,” it says.
The state has designated Hadley a low-risk community for COVID-19, meaning it has had fewer than five reported cases of the disease from Aug. 2-15. The town has had 46 cases, with 2,300 individuals tested, since the pandemic began, according to state data released Wednesday. None of the cases were reported in the last two weeks.
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August 21, 2020 at 03:54AM
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Hadley police won’t enforce face mask order along Route 9 - masslive.com
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