Governor Chris Sununu issued an emergency order mandating face coverings for planned gatherings of 100 people or more Tuesday afternoon, but after 24 hours and several phone calls with the state attorney general’s office, New Ipswich town officials are no closer to learning what the penalties are or how they could be enforced.
“Education is always the first step,” Sununu wrote in a press release issuing the order, “but we won’t hesitate to enforce penalties and fines on event organizers who willfully, and dangerously, disobey these rules.”
Town officials discussed the order at Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting.
“For us, the first question is how do we enforce that?” Town Administrator Scott Butcher said.
Butcher said Wednesday that about 30 members of Torben Sondergaard’s The Last Reformation traveling evangelical group are already in town at State Representative Paul Somero’s Locke Road property. Once the full traveling party – now estimated at between 200-500 people – gets to town this weekend, the emergency order would apply. Organizers have indicated that the group does not plan to follow the state’s social distancing and face covering protocols.
Butcher said he and Police Chief Tim Carpenter spoke to the state attorney general’s office by phone several times on Wednesday but were unable to get clarification on the penalties, how to enforce them, and what the state’s promised support resources will be.
“We’re still waiting to close the loop with the attorney general’s office on some of the details,” Butcher said.
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation set up electronic signs at both of New Ipswich’s town borders along Route 124, warning visitors of the “high COVID risk” during the event and reminding them of the mask and social distancing orders. But what the state will provide to the town beyond that is still unknown.
“For us to be able to enforce anything with a small police department is going to be difficult,” Butcher said. He said that he didn’t think anything as drastic as the National Guard would be deployed, but that assistance from state police or the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office was a possibility.
“I’m hoping that the additional resources will help everything go off with no incidents around it,” Select Board member Shawn Talbot said Tuesday.
Butcher said that like most COVID guidelines, he expected the town’s response to be “evolving” during the ten-day event, despite not knowing what they’ll do or how they’ll do it.
“It certainly is frustrating,” Butcher said. “Getting the curveball from the governor yesterday puts us in a totally different situation than we were 24 hours ago.”
Rep. Somero and event organizers did not respond t0 requests for comment by press time Wednesday.