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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-02-023 ,i_ � ) INSTALLER'S 11,RMITS Rite Clean Cesspool 'Service Suburbanite Cesspool Service DeFelice Bros Sears & Schofield Contracting Co. Herman):Tiaeising Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M. Dorothy Jones, Clerk BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING FEBRUARY 2, 1970 The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Monday, February 2, 1970 at 7:00 P.M. in the Health Department Office. Members present were: Dr. William Cosgrove, Chairman, Dr. Charles Colburn, Mr. James Lambie and Robert Heustis, Director of Public Health. Minutes of the January 5, 1970 meeting were approved as read. Mr. Heustis reported that the judge at Concord District Court granted Mr. DeFelice an extension until May 20, 1970 to DEFELICE comply with the Board of Health order to cover and grade the LAND FILL area of debris he had dumped on his property. The letter from Mr. William Dailey, Jr., Attorney for Mr. DeFelice was read by the Board and placed on file. Mr. Heustis explained this letter was not received until after he had been to court on this order. In this letter Mr. Dailey requested the right for he and his client to come before the Board for a re- evaluation of this order if it proved too expensive for his client to carry out. The letter from the State Division of Environmental Health CATALDO recommending that the land fill program requested by Ralph and LAND FILL Joseph Cataldo be denied was read and placed on file. The Board had denied this request at a previous meeting. Mr. Heustis explained that the probation period granted DAIRY CO. by the Board to Ware Dairy, Blue Ribbon Dairy and Cumberland PROBATION Farm Stores ended on January 19, 1970. He went on to say, PERIOD Blue Ribbon had done very well during that period keeping all the counts within the State Standards set for milk products. Cumberland Farms has started to use sterilized cream in their Lexington Stores which should help. Ware Dairy had done very well up to the samples taken on January 20, 1970. Our testing showed high counts on these samples but the samples saved by the driver from the same case of milk and cream and tested by the Ware Dairy Laboratory did not agree. Dr. Cosgrove asked if Mr. Heustis had been in touch with Mr. Connor of the Dairy regarding this discrepancy. Mr. Heustis said Yes he had called him on the phone and 320 Mr. Connors was very upset. The Board agreed to continue the probation period for Ware Dairy and Cumberland Farms. Blue Ribbon could be dropped but Mr. Heustis was instructed to watch their products carefully. RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT Mr. Heustis explained that when the new Retail Food Establishment Regulations were sent out Mr. Wilson of Wilson Farm wrote stating that road -side stands were not included in these regulations. A letter has been sent to George Michaels of the Food & Drug Division asking for clarification of this. No action was taken by the Board. The letter from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association regarding the increase in fees for Food Service Establishments was read by the Board. (Note: This letter was sent by Mark Strong, Executive Secretary, but was unsigned.) Dr. Colburn said a letter should be written stating that the reason for the rise in fees was to Partially cover the costs of processing the permits and the policing inspections required by law. Dr. Colburn stated that partially should be emphazied. MENTAL The letter from the Mystic Valley Mental Health Association HEALTH Children's Clinic stating that the per capita figure of 28' per BUDGET capita established in September may be reduced to 26¢ if the January 1, 1970 cash balance of the clinic permitted. The clerk said as this was not definite and would not be definite until March 15, 1970, the article as submitted to Town Warrant should stand, and any amount left over at the end of the year could be turned back to the Town. 533 The letter to Mr. Burke, Public Works Department, regarding BEDFORD complaints received of sewage being Picked up in the sump pumps STREET of homes in the area around 533 Bedford Street was discussed by the Board. Mr. Heustis explained that this has been a bad area and Mr. Burke thought some of this work would be done late last fall but he has now stated that the work connecting the houses in this area to public sewer will be done early in the Spring. The permit to keep horses at William Iverson's, 26 Cottage 26 COTTAGE Street was again brought up. It was pointed out that in 1968 STREET a letter signed by George P. Davis granting Mr. Iverson per- mission to use land owned by him for his horses was received by the Health Department. On January 31, 1970, Mr. Irwin, Building Inspector, received a letter from the same Mr. Davis stating that he did not realize that the barn owned by Mr. Iverson encroached on his land and in any event he had not authorized the keeping of a horse on his land. The Board discussed this situation and agreed to check this thoroughly when the animal permits were renewed April 30th. 1 1 1 Mr. Heustis reported that Valeri Construction Co. of Arlington had repaired a line to a septic tank at 92 Vine Street without a permit. He explained that John Brucchi had bid on the job and did not get it, but he called to find out if a permit had been issued for 92 Vine Street. 321 92 VINE ST. Mr. Valeri is a licensed drain layer but this does not cover septic tank repairs. Mr. Valeri was contacted and agreed to uncover the job on Vine Street for inspection, take out a permit for the repairs and an Installer's Permit. This was done on Monday. Mr. Heustis said he had installed a 6 inch orangberg pipe instead of the 4 inch cast iron as required by our regula- tions. This he will change and then call for an inspection. Mr. Heustis asked if the Board wanted Mr. Valeri to come in for a hearing. Dr. Cosgrove said "No". He appears to be cooperating and I see no need of a hearing. The proposed regulations for keeping and stabling horses HORSE were discussed by the Board. Some changes were made on the REGULATIONS original draft. The clerk was instructed to make the changes and before next meeting see that each member of the Board has a corrected draft of these regulations so that action may be taken on these regulations in March. The clerk asked if Dr. Smith, Animal Inspector, should be asked for a report on the condition of the stables after his yearly inspection. This report could be used to evaluate renewal permits for the coming year. The Board thought this a good idea and instructed the clerk to get in touch with Dr. Smith. The following licenses and permits were signed by the Board: FUNERAL DIRECTOR Douglas A. Sederquist (Fudge Funeral Home) DISPOSAL PERMITS Acme Disposal Service Allstate Disposal Service McCall Trucking Co.. Minute Man Disposal Inc. MASSAGE PERMIT Albert A. Warner At 7:30 P.M. Dr. Sagalyn of the came before the Board to discuss the to the Peacock Farm Pool as required Sanitary Code. FOOD ESTABLISHMENT PERMITS Dunfey Corp. Sheraton Motor Inn Brigham's Inc. Manumet Div. of Canteen Corp. INSTALLER'S PERMITS Electric Sewer Cleaning Joseph App John Brucchi Valeri Construction Co. PEACOCK FARM POOL Peacock Farm Pool Association addition of sanitary facilities by Article VI of the State 322 Dr. Sagalyn: Dr. Sloane who is more familiar with the plans for this facility was called out of town, I will try to explain what we would like as best I can. Dr. Cosgrove: This pool was built before these regulations were adopted. Dr. Sagalyn: Yes, the pool was built in 1960, these regulations are dated 1964. Here are copies of the architectts plan for the proposed facilities. It will consist of three rooms, a storage room, mens room and ladies room. The present fence will be eliminated and the outside wall will replace that section of the fence. A foot bath will be installed in the corner of the storage room and then you will go directly to the pool area. Dr. Cosgrove: How many people use this pool at any one time? 1 Dr. Sagalyn: About 50 on a weekend, it is never crowded. In fact our permit allows 210 bathers, Dr. Sloane had all the statistics on this. I have been reading the regulations and I wonder if these things apply to our Association, we are a semi- public pool and regulation 7.3 which applies to sanitary facilities does not mention semi-public pool. He read regu- lation 7.3 "....operator of a public swimming pool shall provide and shall maintain in a sanitary condition, for each sex, at least two water closets...". There are a number of other regulations where semi-public pool is not mentioned, but public swimming pool is. Mr. Heustis: We will get a clarification for you on these regulations. Dr. Cosgrove: You have only 1 water closet for each sex, are you installing fixtures for future additions? Is public sewer available so that these fixtures may be tied into the public line? Dr. Sagalyn: The sewer is available. It will cost the Association about $1500. dollars. We are in hope that you will allow us to install only the one water closet for each sex, but it would be cheaper to install extra fixtures at the time of building than adding them later. Mr. Heustis: Your proposal will cover only about 50 bathers. What about your competitive swimming meets, is the attendance increased then? Dr. Sagalyn: With the exception of the life guard every- one using the pool lives within walking distance of the pool and we have never had need for these facilities. The attendance at the swimming meets is not large, in fact, it is usually only those taking part in the meet. Mr. Heustis: You will also need a phone at the pool. Dr. Sagalyn: We have a phone, it was installed last year because of vandalism. 1 Mr. Heustis: You are asking for a variance in the regu- lation by installing only one water closet for each sex. Will you have hot water installed? Dr. Sagalyn: No, we do not plan on putting hot water in. Yes we would like a variance. At the load figure on our permit and according to the table in the regulations I figure we would need 212 showers per sex and the water closets and wash basins figure out to 3 per sex. However where we do not have more than 50 swimmers at any one time we felt we could ask for this variance. Dr. Colburn: You are asking for one-third the facilities required for a public pool. You want approval of these facilities with a variance granted by this Board. Dr. Sagalyn: Our permit allows 210 bathers, I figured this out and came up with 175 according to the size of the pool. Dr. Cosgrove: If we grant this variance do you plan to in- stall the other fixtures for future use, in other words, in say 10 or 15 years your membership increases and you need more facil- ities. Dr. Sagalyn: We will discuss this, it would certainly be cheaper to put these fixtures in during the construction period. Dr. Colburn: I think we should have this request in writing. Your specifications and proposals and also your request for the variance. In the meantime we will check with the State Health Department for a correct interpertation of these regulations you mentioned regarding public and semi-public pools. Dr. Cosgrove: If you will get your written request to us we will act on it accordingly. I would suggest your achitect give you a more detained plan. Dr. Sagalyn: We will see that you get our request as soon as possible. He thanked the Board and retired. At 8:00 P.M. the public hearing, as required by law, CHALET OF on the issuing of an Inn Keepers License to Mr. Richard LEXINGTON Kraska for the Chalet of Lexington, was held by the Board. Present were Mr. Richard Kraska, Mr. Paul Holden, At- torney for the Chalet Corporation, Mrs. Thomas of Ivan Street and Mr. Sullivan of Bedford Street. Mrs. Briggs and 3 other residents, not identified, came in late to this hearing. Mr. Heustis: This hearing is required by the General Laws Section 32B, Chapter 1t0, to issue a conditional inn keepers license to Mr. Kraska providing that the Chalet is constructed in accordance to all the laws and conditions required by the laws of all governing bodies. Dr. Cosgrove: How many units are you planning on? Mr. Kraska: We are starting with 60 units, but we have ap- proval for 180 units. The reason we requested this hearing is because the Harvard Trust Company who is financing this building 324 suggested it would be better to have this license before we started building. Dr. Cosgrove: As I understand, we are only concerned with the water, sewage, and drainage of this operation. Mrs. Thomas: What about all the peat that is there? Mr. Kraska: We will take out all the peat and replace it with clean fill. Mr. Heustis: Will you be below the finish grade at all, or are all the units above grade? Mr. Kraska: No we will be about 7 to 8 feet above the existing grade. We have already had our Planning Board Hear- ing and have the Planning Board approval. We have checked with the State in regards to the Hatch Act. Actually we could go ahead and build but the Harvard Trust Co. suggested this hear- ing first. Dr. Colburn: I notice this letter from the State says you are not involved in the Hatch Act. Mrs. Thomas: Who is doing your surveying? I noticed the cars there had New Hampshire plates, I thought there was a law which stated that surveyors had to be from this State. Mr. Kraska: We used two firms of surveyors, one from Lowell and the other is Everett M. Brooks Co. from Newton. We have our drainage easement on the property abutting the brook. There will be drains into the brook at right angles. Mrs. Thomas: You talk about your drain survey and ease- ments into the brook, but we have had a water problem in that area for years. Did you know that during the wet periods the water and sewage backs up into the armory. There have been occasions when the water table is so high and the area so wet that the sewage pumping station is by-passed and sewage is let out right into the meadows. That is why we are so concerned. Mr. Heustis: I never heard of any problems about the armory. I should imagine that if they have problems they would install check valves. Mrs. Thomas: The check valves do not work too well be- cause the water gets so high. This added sewage load is what is worrying us. If the pumping station cannot handle the present load what will be the result of adding more. Mr. Heustis: Mr. McSweeney, Town Engineer, has told me that a federal grant has been obtained to increase the ca- pacity of the pumping station by approximately 500 gallons per minute and he felt that this would handle any new sewage at the present time. Mr. Kraske: This is the first time I have heard anything about this sewage problem. C' sigo 1 1 1 325 Dr. Cosgrove: This increase in sewage could be detrimental if the pumping station cannot handle it. I want something in writing from the Town Engineer to assure us that this addition on the pumping station can be handled properly. Mr. Holden: We would appreciate an answer from you people as soon as possible. The Harvard Trust Company would like as- surance that this inn keepers license will be granted. Dr. Cosgrove: As soon as the Town Engineer gives us some- thing in writing we will act. Mrs. Briggs: You show on your plan of going over on the other lot next to you. The conservation committee did not give you permission to do that. We will watch you very carefully. Mr. Heustis: Your operating license could be issued after the work is completed. Mr. Holden: We realize that, and although our financing is assure, Harvard Trust asked that we proceed in this manner. Dr. Cosgrove: I want this question of the pumping station in writing, not on someone's say so. We cannot be concerned about just this year, we must look ahead. Dr. Colburn: I feel we must have the opinion of the Town Engineer in writing before we can take any action. Dr. Cosgrove: We will get right after this and as soon as we get something in writing from the Engineer we weil:let you know. Mr. Kraske thanked the Board for their time and all persons concerned with this hearing retired. At 8:30 P.M. Dr. Myer Herman came before the Board. Dr. Myer: I attended the Cary Lecture the night that RALPH Ralph Nadar spoke, during the question and answer period some- NADAR one in the audience spoke of the milk dealers license which you revoked and the court case following, also the meeting of milk dealers held by you people because as stated in the Minute Man "they were delivering Dirty milk". This person felt that you people were protecting the producers by not listing the names of the dealers in violation and they felt you should be protect- ing the consumer. Mr. Nadar said he could not comment on this because he did not have any facts of the matter, he asked if there was a physician in the audience that could make•a reply. A number of people who knew I was a physician and also worked for the State Health Department looked to me for an answer, so I agreed to meet with you gentlemen and see what the story was. I did tell these people at the meeting that the Board of Health was a public body and therefore their records would be public record, Dr. Colburn: Dr. Cosgrove, may I take over on this? Dr. Herman, I am also a physician, and let me say right now that if I did not think this Board was doing everything possible to 32( protect the people of Lexington I would not waste my time serving on it. I was not on the Board when the first case regarding the dealer whose license was revoked came up but we have heard the back ground of it and although he won his case on a technicality, we also won because he was put out of business by the publicity of his case. It is also true we have had problems with certain dairies in their quality control programs and we have put some dairies on probation, but we do not have any pasteurizing plants in Lexington therefore we are only concerned with the quality of milk sold in Lexington. We have spent a great deal of time and effort to assure the citizens of a good clean grade of milk. On occasions we have gone into the plants to help them locate their problems. If we publicized this irrepairable harm could be done to the dealers. You know, as a physician, bacteria counts in milk can vary from one quart to another, the handling of the milk after it leaves the plants can be a problem. Our testing is not done every day therefore we must take an average of counts as we test them. Without testing every day we cannot make statements to the general public. Mr. Heustis: Did you mention the lady►s name who has asked these questions? Dr. Herman: I do not know the lady who asked the questions, people who know me will relay any information to her. I know Ware Dairy was selling bad milk at one time. Dr. Colburn: We notify every dealer of the results of his tests, if there is any violation we notify the Health Department in the Town where his plant is located. This gives the dairy a chance to make improvements, we also make personal contact if there are continuing violations. Usually we can note an improve- ment right away. You can see why we are reluctant to report these things in the local paper. We feel it is better for us to deal personally with the dairies than have them penalized unjustly. We spend a great deal of time watching the quality of milk sold in Lexington and we certainly make every effort to protect the people of Lexington. I believe we do more testing of milk than any town in the area. Dr". Herman and the Board discussed this problem and Dr. Herman then thanked the Board and retired. KELLEY Mr. Joseph Kelley, 83 Cary Avenue and his Attorney W. J. 19 HORSES Dailey, Jr. came before the Board at 8:45 to file an application for Mr. Kelley to keep 19 horses on his premises. Mr. Dailey: As you probably know Mr. Kelley has been before the Board of Appeals and permission was granted by that Board for Mr. Kelley to erect a barn on his property to house approximately 19 horses. Therefore, may we present this ap- p;ication for a permit for 19 horses. GJ 00.0 1 1 1 Dr. Cosgrove: Mr. Kelley, as I understand you now have a permit for 8 horses. You ase asking for a total of 19, in- cluding what you have already. Mr. Kelley: Yes, it will be no more than a total of 19 horses. I raise Morgan horses now and I plan to increase my operation. Dr. Cosgrove: How many acres of land do you have? Mr. Kelley: About 10 acres all told. Dr. Cosgrove: You have been before the Board of Appeals and they have granted you permission to build another barn, what will you do with the existing barn? Mr. Kelley: That is right I plan to build a pole barn 100 feet by 120 feet. The old barn will be used for storage. The new barn will have stalls on one side and an exercise ring about 70 feet by 120 feet. Mr. Dailey: Mr. Kelley has said there will be no more than 6 to 8 horses outside at any one time. Mr. Heustis: What material will be on the floor of this barn and what about the drains. You will have to keep in mind that brook that runs through your property. We will also have to know about the fly control program. Dr. Cosgrove: I started to drive into your property the other day and there was a pile of manure on the side of the drive. We do not like this manure stock -piled what plans do you have for that problem. Mr. Dailey: Mr. Mazeral of the Park Department has already said he would take the manure at the Town Barn. Mr. Kelley: There will be a center trough, the stalls will be cleaned into that and then the manure taken out and put on a dump truck and taken to the Town Barn, there would be no stock piling of manure. You mentioned fly control, we have used a paint type product that is painted on the barn and walls and we have very few flies. It is not good for the horses to be bothered by flies. Mr. Heustis: You mentioned dirt floors, this type of floor would have no drains. We usually say a cement floor that you can put a drain into. Mr. Kelley: You wouldn't put horses on a cement floor. The dirt floors are covered with shavings which will absorb the waste the stalls are cleaned every day. Mr. Heustis: You could use wood or cork on the floors, but I should think you would have to use a solid floor that can be cleaned and drained properly. 327.: 328 Dr. Cosgrove: At your Board of Appeals Hearing did you have many objectors? Mr. Dailey: We had a petition signed by 44 people in favor of this operation. At the hearing we had 17 people in opposition and 11 spoke in favor of the operation. Mr. Heustis: We have had complaints of the horses being exercised on the public streets, with that many horses would you have any control over them? and and Mr. they then Kelley: It is mostly my girls who ride the horses usually go down Shade Street to the high power lines over into Lincoln. Mr. Dailey: Concern was expressed at the Board of Appeals hearing about the safety of having a stallion on the farm. It was pointed out that Mr. Kelley has had a stallion for 7 years and no one realized it. Dr. Cosgrove: We cannot make any decision tonight. We will take this application under advisement. You are not going to start your barn right away are you? Mr. Kelley: We will probably wait until the weather is a little better. Mr. Kelley and Mr. Dailey thanked the Board and retired. Mr. Heustis explained to the Board that Mr. Steve Russian, an Attorney here in town had sent a letter requesting that he and 5 people (names listed in letter) be notified of any action taken by Mr. Kelley. Dr. Cosgrove said we could notify Mr. Russian that the application had been filed but at the present time no action had been taken by this Board. Dr. made and had been The idea and Cosgrove also suggested that a double post card be sent to the abuttors when a permit to keep animals requested. Board agreed that a double post card would be a good instructed the clerk to take care of it. As there was no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10 P.M. 1 1 1