by Tom Chillemi –
At the Sept. 9 Urbanna Town Council meeting, Urbanna Town Council Attorney Andrea Erard told council masks will be required at council meetings.
This mandate stems from new Department of Labor regulations governing employee protection from COVID-19 in the workplace, approved on Sept. 8, by Gov. Ralph Northam.
At the Sept. 23 meeting, Councilor Larry Chowning asked Erard if masks were required at council meetings. “You said at the last meeting we were required to mask,” Councilor Chowning said to Erard. “Has that changed?” Erard replied with two words, “No sir.”
Chowning’s question may have been due to the fact that Urbanna Mayor Barbara Hartley was the only member of the council not wearing a mask.
At the next council meeting on Oct. 14, Mayor Hartley was not wearing a mask. Neither was Town Administrator Garth Wheeler. All other councilors present wore masks.
The Sentinel contacted Hartley to ask why she hadn’t worn a mask after the attorney said they were required. This week, Hartley replied via text. “For health reasons, I cannot wear the mask,” stated Hartley. “For communications reasons it is important that communications not be muffled or unintelligible and that those who need the addition of lip reading and face reading to understand and believe the speaker is being earnest.”
Wheeler said in a phone conversation this week that he did not wear a mask for “health reasons.”
Health director
Also at the Oct. 14 meeting, Dr. Richard Williams, director of the Three Rivers Health District, addressed council and the audience via Zoom regarding COVID-19 and he suggested precautions that could be taken by those attending the Urbanna Oyster Festival on Nov. 5 and 6.
Dr. Williams suggested wearing masks when close to others at the festival or when indoors.
He also said the Delta variant will persist for the coming months. “There is a much higher risk of contracting Delta,” Dr. Williams pointed out. “Carry your mask with you (at the festival), if you get in close quarters consider using it and if you get indoors consider using it.
“We have got to watch it (the virus) very carefully and treat this thing with respect, and try to reduce our exposure as much as possible.”
