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Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend

COVID-19 vaccination clinic to be held in Wellesley for ages 18+

May 5, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Health Department will hold a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Thursday, May 12 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Wellesley Health Department (90 Washington Street)

This clinic is free and open to all eligible individuals 18 years and older. You do not need to live in Wellesley to take part in this clinic.

Nurses will be offering the Moderna vaccine. First or second doses, or booster shots are all available.

Sign up online for an appointment and have your insurance information available. If you do not have insurance, you may still register for an appointment.

For questions or assistance with appointments, contact the Wellesley Health Department nurses directly at 781-489-4356.

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Filed Under: COVID-19, Health

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From the Financial District to Wellesley Hills: Pandemic brought Sleek Salon’s new owner to town

April 29, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

It took a certain amount of courage for Roya Dowlatabadi, the new owner of Sleek Salon in Wellesley Hills, to leave behind years of success running her own business in Boston’s Financial District and make the move to the suburbs. Although she lives in the Metrowest area, the hair stylist felt like she didn’t have a handle on the culture of this area.

In Boston, Roya’s clients were mostly business people who commuted to the office five days a week. Her base wanted to show up to work looking polished and professional, and they didn’t want their roots to show before important meetings. Business was great back in the pre-pandemic days when the Financial District still bustled with in-person activity.

Roya, Sleek Salon, Wellesley
Roya, owner of Sleek Salon in Wellesley, faced business challenges during the pandemic.

But once COVID hit and Boston’s business elite transferred their moving and shaking from the boardroom to Zoom, it began to seem unlikely that Roya would once more have a full schedule of in-city clients.

One of her regulars told her about Sleek Salon, and how the owner at that time was not only looking to rent a chair, but perhaps wanted to transfer the business altogether, to the right person. Roya wasn’t sure about the idea, but the longer the pandemic lasted, the better a big change sounded. It was time to face facts.

“Finally I convinced myself I have to move on, I have to do something because I cannot survive like this,” Roya said. “I had to accept it. I can’t change destiny, sometimes it is out of our control.”

She left Boston and made the move to Wellesley. First on her agenda as a Sleek employee was to figure out the culture of the area. Turns out her new clients wanted pretty much the same thing as her city clients—regular cuts so as to avoid that shaggy dog look, custom color, and modern dos for special occasions like weddings and prom. Within a year she decided to take on ownership of the business. Things have gone so well that she’s currently looking to rent out a booth in the salon, or hire a stylist.

Roya now has more than ever in common with her clients—the positive lifestyle change that comes with reduced daily travel. “I don’t miss the commute all the way to Boston, ” she says. “Not at all.”

From the Hills to the Square

Empty storefronts are starting to fill up in Wellesley as business owners gain confidence that customers are once again willing to re-enter the world of in-person dining, shopping, and self-care. Just a few examples: Laughing Monk, an imaginative Thai cuisine spot, is expected to open soon in Wellesley Square, and La Toscano Pizzeria has opened at the former Upper Crust space; Home Decor Group opened in Wellesley Hills in March, and Jejes Coffeehouse is coming to that end of town in late spring or early summer; and Oath Pizza and Tatte Bakery are moving forward with renovations in preparation for their grand openings (soon!) in the Linden Square complex.

This flurry of activity has come about in part to to the town’s efforts to take a more collaborative approach in working with both business owners and property owners to fill vacancies. According to Amy Frigulietti, Wellesley’s Assistant Executive Director, the town has been addressing roadblocks to filling empty storefronts within its jurisdiction, such as licensing and permitting. “We’re thrilled that momentum from the storefront art project the Town supported last year is continuing this spring, with the Wellesley Society of Artists exhibit at Webster Bank. Overall we feel good about the current interest in our commercial districts, and the Town will see several new retailers and restaurants moving into our vacant storefronts soon,” she said.


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Filed Under: Business, COVID-19

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COVID-19 vaccination clinic to be held in Wellesley for ages 18+

April 14, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Health Department will hold COVID-19 vaccine clinics during the spring.

Clinic dates, times, and locations are as follows:

  • Thursday, April 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. – Wellesley Health Department (90 Washington Street)
  • Thursday, May 12 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Wellesley Health Department (90 Washington Street)

These clinics are free and open to all eligible individuals 18 years and older. You do not need to live in Wellesley to take part in this clinic.

Nurses will be offering the Moderna vaccine. First or second doses, or booster shots are all available.

Sign up online for an appointment and have your insurance information available. If you do not have insurance, you may still register for an appointment.

For questions or assistance with appointments, contact the Wellesley Health Department nurses directly at 781-489-4356.

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Filed Under: COVID-19, Health

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Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend

COVID-19 vaccination clinics to be held in Wellesley for ages 18+

March 17, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Health Department will hold COVID-19 vaccine clinics during the spring.

Clinic dates, times, and locations are as follows:

  • Thursday, March 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. – Tolles Parsons Center (500 Washington Street)
  • Thursday, April 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. – Wellesley Health Department (90 Washington Street)
  • Thursday, May 12 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Wellesley Health Department (90 Washington Street)

These clinics are free and open to all eligible individuals 18 years and older. You do not need to live in Wellesley to take part in this clinic.

Nurses will be offering the Moderna vaccine. First or second doses, or booster shots are all available.

Sign up online for an appointment and have your insurance information available. If you do not have insurance, you may still register for an appointment.

For questions or assistance with appointments, contact the Wellesley Health Department nurses directly at 781-489-4356.

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Filed Under: COVID-19, Health

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Wellesley mask restrictions in most municipal buildings to end March 7

March 6, 2022 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Wellesley, COVID, masksAfter six months during which wearing a mask in Wellesley’s municipal buildings has been mandatory,  indoor mask wearing will become optional in town starting March 7. This follows the State’s guidance that starting March 1 only high-risk and/or unvaccinated individuals should wear masks indoors.

The Wellesley Select Board and Board of Health voted in mid-February to discontinue the mask mandate. Like the state, the two Boards strongly advise individuals with weakened immune systems, those who are at risk for severe disease, or those who are not vaccinated to continue to wear masks indoors.

On March 7, Wellesley Public Schools (WPS) will transition to a new COVID-19 mitigation plan developed by Health and School officials and approved by the School Committee. This transition plan includes moving to a mask-optional environment for all students and staff, with the exception of health offices, individuals who are returning between days 6 and 10 of a COVID-positive diagnosis, or individuals who have had known, prolonged exposure to someone with COVID-19.

The transition plan includes details on changes to school lunches, visitors and volunteers, performing arts and athletics, field trips, and specific COVID mitigation measures.

Exception to the rule

Due to the vulnerable population served by the Wellesley Council on Aging, the COA Board has voted a policy requiring that individuals participating in in-person COA programs and activities at the Tolles Parsons Center be vaccinated and continue to wear masks at this time.

Massachusetts downsizes “Stop the Spread” sites

Due to a significant decrease in the need for COVID-19 state-sponsored testing sites, and the wide availability of rapid antigen tests, Massachusetts will downsize “Stop the Spread” testing sites to 11 locations by April 1. The Framingham site, which is closest to Wellesley, will stay open through at least May 15 and will continue to offer free PCR testing to any Massachusetts resident, with no ID or insurance required. Locations for other test sites in the Commonwealth here.

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Filed Under: COVID-19, Health

Deland, Gibson Insurance, Wellesley

Wellesley municipal building mask mandate ends March 7

February 15, 2022 by Bob Brown 4 Comments

Wellesley’s Select Board and Board of Health voted on Monday to discontinue the mandate in effect since Sept. 1 requiring mask wearing in municipal buildings as March 7. This came the night before the state’s Department of Public Health loosened its face covering guidance, specifying that vaccinated people only need to wear masks indoors under certain conditions or in specific places.

The Wellesley mask mandate decision does not include school buildings, which are also likely to lose their mask mandate come March 7, based on discussion at last week’s School Committee meeting (there will be a COVID-19 update at the Tuesday, Feb. 15 night School Committee meeting as well).

March 7 was chosen because it gives a bit of a cushion following school vacation week next week, and the March 1 election, which will mainly include in-person voting this time around (the usual absentee voting is allowed). None of this prevents any individual from protecting themselves with a good mask if they wish.

Before Board members discussed the issue, several local residents weighed in, and they all urged the town to rescind the mask mandate.

John Goldberg, a resident who serves as chief medical officer at a biotech firm, said he supports lifting the mask mandate at municipal buildings (as well as at schools). What’s more, he pointed out that “every store you enter in Wellesley right now has a sign suggesting you need to wear a mask, and I think that we can look to doing away with that part of the regulations as well, because those masks just increase that fear and anxiety that we’re talking about…”

Members of the boards voted unanimously to lift the municipal building mandate, though were more mixed on how to handle the phasing out of mask signage. The Board of Health recently undertook a big effort to encourage local businesses to post signs regarding a strong advisory for mask wearing, and now is reluctant to say “Never mind.”

Some said the mask mandate signs at municipal buildings should be replaced with mask advisory signs, to phase out of the current regulations. Others suggested the public isn’t going to make a distinction between a mandate and advisory, and that having the signs would do more harm than good in terms of perpetuating fear that the latest COVID-19 numbers don’t support.

“We need to be careful that the policies we adopt whether they are mandates or advisories don’t unintentionally continue to traumatize the community,” said Select Board Member Colette Aufranc. “We’ve got to message that people are really very, very safe. I think this is a really tricky stage in the pandemic…”

Ann Marie McCauley, the town’s public health nurse supervisor, ran through the latest numbers, highlighting a precipitous drop-off in COVID cases (nearly 50 cases a day in early January to the low teens per day last week) against a backdrop of high vaccination rates and rare serious illnesses from COVID. “Things are getting back to normal in the ways the we care about,” she said.

You can continue to read The Swellesley Report mask-free depending on where you are when reading it.

town hall masks sign


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Filed Under: COVID-19, Government, Health

Wellesley Fire makes shift to online permitting; more N95 masks available

February 14, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

When I recently contacted the Wellesley Fire Department to pull a burn permit for this year I didn’t make my usual stop at the Rte. 9 station. And while I missed exchanging pleasantries, it took me all of 3 minutes to secure the permit online thanks to a new cloud-based software system adopted by the fire department.

The Fire Department’s system uses the same technology that the town’s building department has been using to make interactions with the public more efficient, and that’s how Deputy Fire Chief Steve Mortarelli became familiar with it a couple of years back. He described the Fire Department’s transition to the software, with plenty of help from the town’s IT department, at a recent Select Board meeting (about 5 minutes into the Wellesley Media recording).

Mortarelli says adoption of the technology in mid-2021 has made a huge difference in the town’s fire prevention process, which entails permits, inspections, and plan reviews. Among the big benefits is that payments can be made online.

Permits are required by any contractor modifying a sprinkler system or fire alarm, doing welding, or wanting to blast, needs a permit. Traditionally, they would have to head down to the fire department, hope the right contact was there, fill out paperwork, etc. “Did it work, yes it worked. Was it efficient, no, it certainly was not,” Mortarelli said.

Plan reviews required a similar paper-heavy process that included plenty of back and forth.  Fire inspections for properties being sold also could be a painfully slow process, with sellers not necessarily understanding all the codes, and fire inspectors needing to make multiple trips depending upon the seller’s preparedness. “What I found is that we were constantly reciting the code over and over,” Mortarelli said, referring to the 26F inspection process.

Those requiring permits can now get things started at the town’s website in the Permits & Licensing section,  which lists available permits and includes lists of requirements based on the age of your house and other factors. “This takes the dialogue out of it,” Mortarelli told the Select Board, adding that he’ll typically reply to application submissions the same day they are received. “The number of phone calls has really declined.”

The number of permits that the fire department deals with is about the same, but the efficiency of handling and tracking them has improved greatly, Mortarelli says. There used to be lines out the door at the station at lunchtime, or when contractors had breaks in their schedule and could swing by.

“Instead of a contractor making several trips to the fire station simply to obtain one permit or have one set of plans reviewed, it is now performed remotely online,” Mortarelli told us via email.  “There are no longer any hard copies to keep track of as all permits, plan review notes, and correspondence is tracked [online].”

The Deputy Chief adds: “The new system forces all parties involved to be better managers as it removes the chance for human error. ”

A good example of this, he says, is the addition of a “Rough inspection” step. “Previously, contractors would often forget to call for a rough inspection so if there was an issue it would not be noticed until the final inspection.  Now, the system doesn’t allow a contractor to move forward through the workflow until the “Rough inspection’ step is completed,” he says

To date, Mortarelli says the fire department hasn’t had any people contact it because they can’t figure out the system. “I honestly thought it was going to be a pretty big learning curve because we’ve had that old system in place for quite some time and there are a lot of different brokers that come into the town to sell real estate,” he told the Select Board. “But the word got around very quick. Very rarely do I receive a phone call of having somebody ask me ‘Can we set up an inspection?’ They know now just to go online to apply for it…”

If anyone does have trouble, though, they’re welcome to get answers the old fashioned way: By phone or in person.

More N95 masks being distributed

The Community Fund for Wellesley has awarded the Wellesley Fire Department with a new grant to resupply the town’s most vulnerable residents with an infusion of 4,500 additional N95 masks to protect them against the COVID-19 virus. 

Firefighters will go directly to residents’ homes to deliver the masks and make sure they are properly fitted. Eligible residents, including seniors and those with medical conditions, can also request to pick up their mask at Fire Department headquarters on Route 9 (457 Worcester St.). To request an N95 mask, call the Fire Department non–emergency line at 781–235–1300.

wellesley firefighters
Pictured left to right: Deputy Fire Chief/Inspector Steve Mortarelli, Firefighter Scott Smith, Community Fund for Wellesley Board Chair Michael Stevens, Fund Board Member Wendy Paul, Fire Chief Rick DeLorie, Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Peterson, and EMS Coordinator Lieutenant Dana Gerrans (photo courtesy of Town of Wellesley)

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