North Andover Holds Town Meeting On High School Football Field
NORTH ANDOVER (CBS/AP)- North Andover held its annual town meeting Tuesday evening on the high school football field.
The socially distant residents packed the field and stayed 6 feet apart to consider a number of issues, including a tax break for Amazon. The company is planning to build a $400 million facility there.
Town officials believe this could be the largest non-protest gathering since Massachusetts shut down all large gatherings in mid-March.
To help pick a venue large enough to ensure everyone attending could stay at least 6 feet apart from one another, town moderator Mark DiSalvo partnered with brothers Rich and Dave Kaufman on a digital solution.
The three developed software that calculates how much space is needed for large gatherings based on the number of individuals expected to attend.
The digital calculator is free and available to the public at safe-meeting.org. To use the software, an individual enters the number of people expected to attend a gathering and the software comes up with the minimum square footage needed.
The software, which is also available in the form of an app, was initially intended to help other town officials facing similar challenges, but it can be used by anyone planning larger events or safe work spaces during the pandemic.
The app also allows a user to enter the size of an area and then calculate how many people could safely fit in it.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
