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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-08-BOH-min Lexington Board of Health, March 8, 2006 Room G-15, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Attendees: Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Judith Feldman, Burt Perlmutter, Sharon MacKenzie, Deborah Thompson Health Dept. Attendees: Derek Fullerton, Susie Moser, Ann Belliveau Heiger Bernays called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. There was no public participation. MacKenzie stated that on January 2006, the Board had asked for an update on lead exposure to children in Lexington and how the Health Dept would know whether a child presents with elevated blood leads. Fullerton called the childhood lead program at DPH and is awaiting for a call back. Thompson was reviewing the MASSCHIP (Massachusetts Community Health Information Profile ) data to find information. Heiger-Bernays asked the Board to review the minutes of February 8, 2006. MacKenzie motioned to accept the minutes as amended. Feldman seconded. All approved. Inspection Tracking – Heiger-Bernays asked how the food establishments with continuing critical violations and multi-reinspections are completed and whether the cost of the reinspection is paid for by the establishment. Fullerton stated that if Fox goes to the establishment to do a reinspection and then needs to go back to the establishment, that the fine issued goes into the general fund. Heiger-Bernays reminded the BOH that this issue had been discussed previously. Heiger-Bernays suggested the fine for the re-reinspection should be much higher to cover the cost of the reinspection. Fullerton will look into other towns to see how they are handling re-reinspections. Perlmutter suggested reviewing the fee and fine schedule to determine the costs. Heiger-Bernays and Fullerton will come up with a schedule of how many red and blue violations constitute a hearing. The objective is to address repeat offenders and provide a consistent policy for enforcement. Inquiries Tracking – MacKenzie questioned the number of septic inquiries. Fullerton mentioned that most of the septic inquiries are from realtors. MacKenzie did not want to lose track of all of last year’s work in making sure septic systems were pumped within the required timeframe and that the systems requiring pumping this year should be identified & contacted. Nurses Report – Moser reported 1) 5 cases of varicella in unvaccinated children in the Waldorf School and 2) that at the 11/17/05 flu clinic, about 15% of the documentation does not have the signature of the person administering the vaccine. As a result, we cannot submit these forms for Medicare reimbursement. Fullerton began a discussion of the Continuity of Operations Plan for the Board of Health/Health Department. Fullerton asked the Board to review and discuss at a later date. This will be included as a section in the Emergency Plan. Fullerton stated that the Town will be coming out with a town-wide “COOP” plan that is an umbrella plan for the entire municipality. Perlmutter expressed his concern after reading the plan because there is no mention of authorization. Perlmutter asked Fullerton to clarify this. Heiger-Bernays stated that the Board will review, ask questions and discuss at the next meeting. Heiger-Bernays asked Fullerton to speak with Carl Valente to see where whether Valente’s signature, the Selectman’s signature or DPH’s signature is required Town Meeting Discussion: Mutual Aid and Emergency Preparedness Planning – Fullerton advised the Board that all warrant articles will be outlined for town meeting with approximate dates assigned. The BOH will be allocated time for the mutual aid warrant article and for a presentation on pandemic flu planning. Tegan Evans and Jon McCall, BU Student Interns: Project Updates Pesticide Education Heiger-Bernays introduced Tegan who presented the progress she has made on pesticide education focusing on landlords. Tegan explained that this is being done because there have been several cases of misapplication of pesticides in multi-family dwellings in Lexington. Recently Evans spoke with other public health offices to see if they had done any programs similar to this educational program. The closest program found had been done for restaurants. Evans drafted a regulation if the Board desired to move forth with a regulation. Another option was a certificate course for landlords. The BOH needs to determine whether a voluntary program is more effective than a regulation – Evans felt that the regulation was probably more effective. Evans spoke with Don Rivard, a pest management educator, concerning his fee to provide an educational program that would be tailored for landlords and would last 3 hours. Evans would like to do the course without costs so she spoke with Heiger-Bernays about options for grants. Evans believes it would be interesting to do another course for the community. After the course, Evans recommended sending out a survey to participants to see what worked and what didn’t. The approximate timeline would be mid-May after speaking with Mr. Rivard who felt that would be a reasonable time to get things in order. Heiger-Bernays felt we need to find out how many landlords there are in the town. Fullerton will help in gathering the list of attendees depending on who the Board wishes to attend. Fullerton will discuss with the Manager of Assessors to see how he can obtain a list of landlords. MacKenzie expressed that the course should be offered to landlords and anyone in the community in the Lexington Minuteman. Evans would like to submit for a TURI Grant to pay for the course costs. Heiger-Bernays asked Fullerton to find out what needs to be done and then they can discuss. Fullerton updated the Board on the air quality at the Town Office Bldg. After numerous complaints from employees, Fullerton contacted Corey Holmes from DPH to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the entire Town Office Building. Some of the findings were related to the two fresh air intakes that had been shut off. Respectively CO levels ² were high in some of the rooms. The workout room in the basement had the lowest CO ² levels even though four or five people were working out during the time of the test. The workout room has an independent air intake system. The recommendation by DPH to decrease severe odors from the floor drains is to increase the wetting to the drains. Sometimes the drains dry out periodically. Fullerton then explained that the only prolonged moisture buildup was under the floor molding. As a result, a leak/flood protocol will be developed. Fullerton said the rest of the test results showed housekeeping issues such as people pilling things on top of the uni-vents and the need to change air. A HVAC contractor will do an assessment of the entire building. Fullerton will be meeting with the Town Manager, the Building Maintenance Director and the DPW Director to follow-up on the mentioned problems. At the meeting, the Board recommended having the Facilities Manager take over this responsibility along with his staff to alleviate Fullerton of this task. Bacterial Investigation of Vinebrook: Update Fullerton stated that the Town Engineering Department has a contract with an environmental firm to do an environmental investigation of Vinebrook that includes both branches, beginning at the Old Res through to Burlington in the southern portion. The firm will be doing sampling and they will also be doing some of the NPDES requirements which include mapping our stormwater output. Engineering has taken the lead. The contract will go into affect in early Spring and from that the Town will monitor how it goes and perhaps apply it to other areas. A report will be submitted as part of the contract. Incident Command Training and National Incident Management System Training for BOH Members Fullerton informed the Board that DPH is offering a half-day course on Incident Command Training for Public Health training this year. Information for both the IS-100 and the NIMS-700 is included in the packets. The NIMS-700 can be taken on line. Fullerton is waiting to hear back from the State regarding upcoming ICS-100 training for Public Health. Jefferson Union Building Fullerton informed the Board that three-quarters of the Jefferson Union Bldg. on Fletcher Avenue was demolished. The Building Commissioner issued a stop work order on the property because this much demolition was not approved. During the demolition, two more underground storage tanks were discovered and the LSP will be doing a full report. The Building Commissioner is making sure the site is cleaned up and safe. 31 Allen Street DEP issued some enforcement orders to this property. This site is currently under a full environmental investigation (21E). Reports will be submitted to the Health Department soon regarding removal of some tanks, proposed drainage work, and an area assessment. Fullerton informed the Board that there is a private drinking water well in the area. Health records show a domestic well but the Health Dept. will be checking because it may have been abandoned and the Health Department was never notified. All of this work is being completed under the DEP order. Heiger-Bernays wanted to make sure the well Fullerton referred to is not being used for drinking water. Fullerton informed the Board that in the well permit database, several are listed as drinking water wells. Heiger- Bernays asked Fullerton to find out if these domestic drinking wells are for drinking and if so, the well owners need to make sure they know what having a private well means in terms of protection in our drinking water supply. Fullerton will have Fox call all of the domestic well individuals to find out the status of the wells and report back to the BOH. 81 Westview Street Fullerton informed the Board that there is not a fence around the property at 81 Westview. Kevin Batt said the next thing the Board can do if the property owners are not willing to put up a fence would be to issue a violation and take the owners to court to have them install a fence immediately. Fullerton told the Board that an estimate for the fence would be between $1,200 and $1,500. Heiger-Bernays asked if we could be reimbursed by adding to the cost of the cleanup. Fullerton mentioned we could go ahead and put a lien on the property but when we start doing anything on the property, we are taking ownership of the property and then we are involved with possible cleanup, etc. Batt said we could issue more violations and then begin imposing fines. The only money available to the owner will be forthcoming when the property is sold. Fullerton will speak with the Town Manager, to see if the Town has funds to pay for a fence. Heiger-Bernays is concerned because it is located adjacent to the bike path, is readily accessible to the public and is a hazard. Mackenzie stated the Board may need to re-involve Ethan Mascoop with the case if the site does not get fenced. Fullerton mentioned that the condemned building sign is still readable on the door and in the front of the property. An X has also been placed on the house indicating it as abandoned. Animal Control: Shelter Status Fullerton informed the Board of a water pipe break at the Shelter causing considerable damage to the point it cannot be used. Fullerton has met with the Police Department to come up with a viable options on sheltering Lexington animals. The Animal Control Officer is contacting adjacent towns to see who would be willing to take our animals until permanent arrangement can be made. Most have declined because they are using local vets. Fullerton explained over the past few years, the shelter has only housed 5 to 6 dogs overnight per year. The large overhead costs of water, electricity and propane, may outweigh the benefits of the shelter. An animal hospital in Belmont may be an alternative. If that does not workout, Fullerton said the Town Manager may speak with a local vet to see if they would house the animals or explore other towns for establishing a shelter contract agreement. Thompson asked Fullerton if the Shelter will be kept open or shut down. Fullerton responded at this time it is likely the shelter will be closed but the Town is looking into alternatives. Perlmutter said a regional shelter would make sense. Budget Update: Public Health Nurse and Animal Control Officer Fullerton said the Animal Control Officer is on the at-risk list on the Police Budget. The recommended base budget for the Public Health Nurse for 25 hours has not been approved by the Selectmen as yet. Biosafety Inspections and Biosafety Committee Members Fullerton has been working with Rebecca Ryan, a biosafety inspector from BU and she has given her prices for inspecting. Fullerton gave Ryan a list of biosafety facilities and she will be in touch with each facility to see when these facilities are having their annual biosafety meeting. Ryan will attend the meeting and hopefully do the inspection. Fullerton wanted to discuss about the money reimbursement from the facilities. Earlier a discussion had taken place about having special account language in the regulations. We only have accounts for special consultant review. Counsel recommended looking at our permit fees for biosafety and include the inspection fee on their annual permit renewal. We can then set the funds in an interest bearing account and pay for the inspections. Fullerton will be exploring this to see how this can be accomplished. Fullerton will find out how we will pay for this year’s inspections. Senior Health Fair 2006 Fullerton will be bringing the Glo-Germ demonstration, information on poly-pharmacy th and on stroke awareness. to the Senior Health Fair that takes place on April 26 at the Senior Center? Feldman asked if CPR information or Heimlich information could be distributed. MacKenzie suggested home safety materials. Pool Sampling: Update Fullerton is working on the letter and will send to Heiger-Bernays for review. Skin Cancer Grant 2006 Health and Recreation applied for the Skin Cancer Grant. The application indicated the Town would receive an umbrella/tent and literature this year. Permultter motioned to adjourn. MacKenzie seconded. All approved.