GILL — Town buildings are closed to the public indefinitely as a social distancing measure, but business can still be done by phone, mail and email.
“Business as sort of normal,” Town Administrator Ray Purington clarified.
Last week, Gill declared a state of emergency, like most local towns, allowing for normal town operations to be modified for the sake of public health.
At Town Hall, services can be done by email and phone (with a mail line of 413-863-9347), and paperwork can be mailed, Purington said. Employees are still at their offices. Phone numbers for specific offices can be found at the town’s official website, gillmass.org.
Committees are meeting almost entirely via conference call, but the meetings are still publicly accessible. Call-in information is now included in meeting agendas, which are posted on the town’s website.
In-person meetings are still possible if the committee chair determines that certain business cannot be done remotely, Purington said. But so far no committees have needed to meet in person.
Important updates are being publicized via the town’s alert system. Residents can sign up to receive messages by phone or email on the town’s website, on the pages of the Fire Department and Police Department. For example, the system was used last week to announce the state of emergency.
The police and fire departments are also closed to walk-in traffic, but still operational and accessible by phone, Purington said. The non-emergency line for the Police Station is 413-863-9398 and for the Fire Station is 413-863-8955
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.