MetroWest Daily News
Ashland, like many communities throughout the state and nation, has struggled to secure doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Town leaders have put in requests for the vaccine, but have been denied.
“Obviously, we were struggling like everyone else,” said police Sgt. Ed Burman, the town’s COVID-19 task force manager.
The state Department of Public Health encouraged town leaders to create partnerships with surrounding communities that are also having difficulty getting doses of the vaccine. Hosting a regional clinic could prompt the state to send more doses faster.
“They kept telling us Ashland was too small,” said Burman. “They didn’t want to send us 100 doses, 200 doses.”
Regional council evolves to help Greater Portland communities meet bigger challenges
The Greater Portland Council of Governments has become a more dynamic organization under new leadership and in a changing landscape that demands more cooperation among cities and towns on issues ranging from the opioid crisis to COVID-19 and from racial injustice to homelessness.
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In early March, when municipal leaders across southern Maine were scrambling to plan their response to the looming COVID-19 pandemic, the staff of the Greater Portland Council of Governments organized a panel of experts to answer their questions.
A few weeks later, just before Gov. Janet Mills issued a stay-home order, city and town managers were hungry for more guidance. The regional council arranged a Zoom meeting with Mills and the managers, started holding weekly online meetings for municipal officials and created an interactive web page so they could get and share the latest information.
COVENTRY â The town council will meet tonight to discuss how approximately $95,000 of COVID-19 relief funding will be allocated before the end of the month, hear why water rates will be increasing, and get updates on various town projects by Town Manager John Elsesser.
The meeting will begin at 7:30. Council meetings are not open to in-person public attendance, but community members can participate by emailing their comments to audience@coventryct.org before 4 p.m. today, or watch the meeting online.
The meeting will be live on Spectrum Cable channel 191, or on YouTube at
COUNCIL
WHAT: Meeting tonight at 7:30
AGENDA: Action regarding the allocation/spending of state COVID-19 relief funding and possible hiring of a Public Works Director