MONTAGUE — The Board of Health gathered for an emergency meeting Wednesday that largely centered on mutual disappointment between the Health Department and the Selectboard.
The conversation followed a Monday evening Selectboard meeting in which Chair Rich Kuklewicz said he was “disappointed” that Board of Health members are not meeting with the Selectboard for COVID-19-related discussions and largely levying responsibility on the Selectboard to make pandemic-related judgment calls. Health Director Daniel Wasiuk, however, said he was disappointed in the Selectboard for making decisions without proper regard to Board of Health recommendations.
By the end of the Board of Health’s discussion, members agreed to have meetings scheduled each week and confer weekly with the Selectboard to decide which meetings are necessary.
At recent Selectboard meetings, the Board of Health would be only partially present to support Wasiuk’s weekly presentation of COVID-19 data. This Monday, there was no Board of Health member present at the meeting.
“I will just publicly state that I really think the Board of Health should be meeting with us and having these discussions on a weekly basis,” Kuklewicz said Monday.
On Dec. 13, a mask mandate for town-owned buildings was approved by the Selectboard without a full recommendation from the Board of Health. The Selectboard later voted to expand the mandate to include all public buildings, effective Dec. 22, during its Dec. 20 meeting. At that meeting, those in attendance admitted to feeling lost for direction, with Board of Health member Michael Nelson going so far as to say he “(doesn’t) really care at this point” about the town’s decision.
“I’m really feeling like you’re asking us to do work that others might be more equipped to do on other boards and other levels of skill,” Kuklewicz said to Wasiuk on Monday. “I think we’re trying to all do our best, and ‘I’m quite disappointed’ is all I would say.”
Wasiuk agreed with the notion that the Selectboard has been making decisions it should not be responsible for, but argued that the Selectboard is accountable.
“Certainly, I was disappointed by recent remarks made by the Selectboard chair,” Wasiuk said at Wednesday’s Board of Health meeting. “The Selectboard has overstepped their authority on public health many times.”
While Nelson said he hadn’t been made aware of the Selectboard’s disapproval prior to Wednesday’s meeting, Board of Health member Melanie Ames Zamojski said she’d received emails from Town Administrator Steve Ellis requesting special meetings before Christmas.
Board of Health members disagreed on whether they should be meeting weekly with the Selectboard. Chair Al Cummings refused to entertain the prospect of meeting weekly, insisting that bi-weekly meetings should suffice. Ames Zamojski, on the other hand, argued the board should be open to the idea, sympathizing with the notion that the Selectboard has been taking responsibility due to the Board of Health not taking great enough steps to make COVID-19-related decisions.
Montague resident Ariel Elan showed surprise regarding the “unnecessary antagonism expressed.”
“All I really heard Rich saying is, ‘We miss these people from the Board of Health,’” commented Elan, who also attended Monday’s Selectboard meeting.
“I do want a reciprocal relationship,” Wasiuk said. “At this time, I feel it’s been a one-sided relationship.”
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.