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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-12-01 sent to Dr. Yudowitz stating that unless some effort be made to connect this dwelling to public sewer or the Board would order the house vacated. Mr. Theodore Freeman had been requested to appear before the Board be- HORSES cause of the unsanitary condition of the barn and area at 83 Cary Avenue. 23 CARY AVE Mr. Freeman did not attend this meeting. Mr. Smith reported that inspections have shown excessive amounts of manure. Right now Mr. Freeman is operating without a license, he has applied for a permit renewal but the place was such a mess we have held up on issuing it. The Board after a short discussion said that Mr. Freeman should be no- tified that he will have ten (10) days to remove both the horses and the manure from the premises either voluntary or by court action. Mr. Smith reported that Season's Four had brought in the animals they have during Christmas. They will pick up a temporary permit within the next few days. The following permits were signed by the Board: Animal Permits: Lisa Fitzgerald, 342 Bedford St. - 3 horses Food Establishments: Honeywell Radiation Center, A.R.A. Services Gloria Foods, 137 Mass Avenue (New Deli) Raytheon Executive Building, 141 Spring St. (Servomation Corp.) Friendly's Ice Cream Shop, 66 Bedford St. Nursing Home Dana Home, Massachusetts Avenue BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING DECEMBER 1, 1975 The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held December 1, 1975 at 7 00 P.M. in room G-15 of the Town Office Building. Members present were Dr.. William L Cosgrove, Chairman; Mr. James Lambie, Dr. Charles Ellicott and George A. Smith, Director of Public Health. The minutes of the November 3, 1975 meeting were accepted with the follow- ing corrections The sentence in the paragraph regarding the Food Handlers Course was corrected to state that "people from the United States Public Health Service Food and Drug Administration." The paragraph regarding the ownership of "Brewsters" was corrected to state that "Brewsters" which is owned by James H. McManus, 244 Needham Street, Newton, Massachusetts." The second paragraph regarding Wild Acre Inn be corrected to read "a Lodging House and not a community residence " 572 L?" With these corrections the ninutes were accepted. t" Jane Tapia came before the Board at 7 00 P.M to report on the clinics for the elderly Mrs Tapia stated that so far this year 47 new people were attending the clinic which would average out to about 12 new people per month. A total of 374 neonl.e have been seen since the start of the clinics. TRI-COMMUNITY The new clinic in East Village will be held once a month for one hour. NURSE, WELL The first clinic only about 6 were seen, the second clinic about 12 attend- ELDERLY CLINICsing. more publicity will help this clinic. Mrs Tapia went on to explain to the Board that they were thinking of doing other tests at the Well Elderly Clinics and they thought they would like to try a urine test using the Alnu stick which will register albumin and sugar This testing will be done on people who come to the "Health Clinics", these tests will be done maybe once a month. The price of these sticks are $6 16 per 100. Dr. Ellicott said he felt that this test was more effective than the one used at the public clinic last year. Patients who participate can be notified by a letter similar to the one used last year at the clinic Dr. Cosgrove asked if they would test anyone who comes to the clinic. Dr. Ellicott said they could read these tests immediately, it only takes about 30 seconds to read it. Mrs Tapia said they would need about 400 sticks to start. ' The clerk said they had enough money in the budget to purchase these st1C1'.S. Dr. Ellicott moved that the Board sunnly the Alnu stick for the pur- nose of testing urine of the neonle attending the Well Elderly Health Clinics Mr. Lambie seconded the motion, motion moved and passed by unanimous vote Mrs Tapia said she would like to exnlain that the bill this month will have e:'tra clinic hours on it for the re-testing of the children span at the LeadPoisoning screening Clinic. Mr. Lambie asked about how much time we were talking about? Mrs Tania explained that it tool. about 10 minutes to do this re- testing. the estimated that we had done about four to six children so far. Mr criith e'nlained that other tewns had been running these clinics and *C'. we-e rf ceivinr the rennrts fpr T,e'rinoton people e''he had been done in the ether towns. The Board agreed that '.,e *.mould tare car of the extra tine The Board thanl•ed ? rs. Taia for corning in. Mrs. Tania retired t) 'IT n ^t -r '1 Dr Y"f?()..l t^ ....n^ ei' th^ T..+1, 1n no-c, carte Yo-- t 7,1r)- -1 tr) f9is7117^ te,r, ^71 —entree-ting his d"r'l1ing to D . Y1TIW 'IT`, nttbZic secrc-. 5n n-'nr'y „Vt'NUE !'r Jame° Chase, To'•'n Engineer, -ttended this -,,rt of the meeting. Dr Cosg'"ove said the first thing he .could lid"e to as? was if 1r. Yudo*'it^ had anniied to the selectmen to be tied into nubile sewer. Dr. Yduowit^ said he had not applied to the selectmen but he would like to explain to the Board that he was not a•Weare that they had a serious problem until Mr. ith had come out on an inspection. The" then --Hund that the sen- tic tank was overflowine and they did have it pt>''ped out at that time. They also hired an engineer to study the situation and their studies showed that a water break had occurred about 2 and one-half months before the septic tank overflowed and they felt that this brew- could be a contributing factor to the faulty septic tank. The fire of C. E Maguire, Engineers, has done a survey for Dr. Yudowitz to determine the ways this dwelling can be connected to public sewer, both pronosals are very costly. Dr. Yudowitn said he had contacted some of the abuttors to see if they were interested in connecting to public sewer and they were not. The nearest sewer line is too high and therefore, it would be impossible to have a gravity flow system installed. The engineering survey showed that in order to put a gravity feed line into this dwelling the sewer line in the street would have to be lowered 14 to 16 feet If the house is connected to the present system an ejector Hump would have to be installed and the type of connection is not too satisfactory. If the pumps failed the whole house would be out of operation. Dr. Yudowitz said he wondered if he could petition the selectmen to have the town lower the sewer line. Dr Ellicott said as far as he could see this whole thing was pretty marginal Dr. Yudowitz said he was inexperienced in a situation like this, he did have an engineer come out and he received two estimates to connect this dwelling to public sewer, both costly. One if it could be a gravity feed system would run to about 16 thousand dollars and the other with the ejector pumn and a bacl- up system would run to about 25 thousand dollars Dr. Ellicott said that as Dr. Yudowitz was running a connercial operation he was receiving monetary returns and therefore, correcting this problem should be considered part of the operation. He went on to say he had gone out there on Saturday and the odor was very bad. This health hazard would have to be corrected as soon as possible Dr. Cosgrove asked if the houses on Highland Avenue were on public sewer and Mr. Chase said he believed so. Mr. Chase went on to say that for this house to gravity feed the town sewer line would have to be relaid and he had never had occasion *There anyone petitioned the town to alter a sewer line already in the street Dr. Cosgrove said Dr Yudowitz could and should present his plans to the selectmen. He then asked how often this system was Humped out? Dr. Yudowitz said he was pumping about every 3 months but he had left word with his manager that he should have the system pumped out as often as necessary to avoid a health hazard. 574 Dr 711 cott said "hen the Boa'-cl •rent out on Saturday the system was overflowing He went on to ask Dr. Yudo wits if he would pump this system once a week if necessary. Dr. Yudowitz said he did not know that the system wa overflowing, if he had not come tonight he would not know anything about it He again explained he had left instructions to his manager that he was to check this problem and if any overflow existed he was to have the system pumped out. Dr. Ellicott said this was a very bad situation and one way of spread- ing communicable diseases. Mr Lambie said regardless of what the outcome would be of the petition to the selectmen, Dr:• Yudowitz must take care of the overflow and keep it under control. Dr Yudowitz asked what he should do now, should he ask the select- men to have the sewer line lowered or just petition for public sewer Mr. Chase said he must submit a petition for sewer to the select- men. The Board of Health and the Engineering department will then make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen to connect this house to public sever n1J this could he very costly for. -lust one dwelling Dr. Yudowitz said his engineer, estimated that if the town would lower the sewer line it would cost abet tiS hundred dollars to connect this house to the street sewer line. Dr Yudowitz also assured Mr. Smith that he would keep the system pumped out, everyday if need hr. Mr Chase suggested Dr. Yudo'•'itz hire an engineer and get a plan the-1 come in and discuss this problem ''.ith Mr. McSweeney, Director of Pubic forks and Mr Chase, Town Finaineer Dr Ellicntt said the alternative of frequent pumping was satisfactory in temporarily correcting the problem but he felt something should be put in •p-iting regarding a permanent elan to correct this situation. Mr. Smith said he insisted that Dr. Yudowitz approach the Town on the connection to public sewer He also told Dr Yudowitz that trash was being dumped on his property near the lot line and as owner Dr. Yudowitz '•gas responsible to clean it up Dr. Yudowitz agreed he would He also said he would contact Subur- banite Cesspool Service to pump the septic system as necessary The Board thanked Dr. Yudowitz and Mr. Chase for coming in Mr Nylander, Engineer from Miller & Nylander, and Mr. Tom Gorndt BURROUGHS renresentative from Burroughs Corporation, came before the Board to CORPORATION discuss the sewage problem existing at the Burroughs Corporation at 92 Hayden Avenue. Dr. Cosgrove said the people at Burroughs Corporation have had a sewage problem and to date they have not come before this Board to tell them if they have reached a solution. '7e would like to know just what you people are planning on doing Jfr ) Mr. Tom Gorndt said he was not too familiar with the situation as Mr Chicatelli had been handling the problem however he was not available tonight to attend this meeting Mr Nylander said he had been working on the plans to connect this system to the public sewer Dr Ellicott said he understood that Burroughs Cornoration was rent- ing this property and legally the owners of the property were responsible to make the corrections Mr. Gorndt said that under the terms of the lease and after talking to Mr. Loring of the Detroit Office, Burroughs Corporation accepts the responsibility of correcting the situation in accordance with the terms of the lease Mr. Nylander said he had been giving this problem considerable atten- tion since July. The existing line does go under the ramp, this was in- stalled when the road was built, however, the connection is buried so deep that it is creating a problem. This is all under the State Highway. i,'e have taken soil test borings and should have a final schedule in about two weeks. Dr Ellicott asked how often the system was being pumped out He was told about once a week Dr Cosgrove asked if Burroughs Corporation was going through with connecting this building to public sewer? Mr Gorndt said "Yes". They will proceed with contracting and go ahead with the project as soon as the conservation commission and all other environmental impact requirements are met We know this will be very expensive but we have no choice. The Board inquired if the owners of the building had been contacted and Mr. Smith said when the problem first came up he had contacted the Annuity Board of Southern Baptist Convention of Dallas and they had in- formed him that this problem would have to be solved by the Burroughs Cor- poration in accordance with the lease Mr. Gorndt said most of the legal work was carried on at the home office. Dr. Cosgrove said he was pleased that the Board had finally got a definite answer to the solution of this problem Mr. Gorndt said most of the preliminary work had been done by the home office and they were certainly trying to get it all taken care of Dr. Cosgrove asked if the Southern Baptist Convention had offered to send someone to this meeting. Mr. Smith said they had called but he felt that as long as Burroughs Corporation was sending a representative they did not need to attend. He also asked Mr Nylander if he had a definite time that this wor'- would be done Mr. Nylander said his plans should be ready in about two weeks and then they would have to arrange a meeting with the Conservation Com- mission at which time they will set an order of conditions under which 17 cY the wow)- shall be done p emm Mr. McSweeney who had dropped into the meeting, said they would have to file a request with the Conservation Conuuission because of the brook This would come under the Hatch Act and they would set up a meeting within 21 days in accordance with the law Mr. Smith asked if a realistic date could be set, say a month - month and a half? Mr Nylander said less than that. He would get the present plan to Ihr. Chase and then take the necessary steps for all the hearings. Dr Cosgrove thanked Mr. Nylander and Mr. Gorndt for coming. 83 CARY AVENUE Upon order of the Board of Health Mr. Theodore Freeman came before FREEMAN the Board of Health to discuss the problem of the condition of his ANIMAL PERHIIT stables and the disposal of manure and also the disposal of sewage on his property at 83 Cary Avenue. People attending this hearing were Mr. and Mrs Robert H. Kingston, Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Warrington, Sue and Vaughn Petry and Mr. Jack Frost, Mr. Freeman's business partner. Dr. Cosgrove said to Mr Freeman you have been requested to come before this Board because you have been notified that your Animal Permit to keep horses at 83 Cary Avenue was not renewed by vote of this Board at our last meeting, November. 3, 1975. A letter was sent to you requesting you attend our meeting last month which you chose to ignore "o have been out to the stables and this Board feels that the conditions are deplorable, and :ie feel that you as owner of that pronerty are very irresponsible and therefore not worthy to have a Hermit to }been horses. Mr. Freeman said he was not an irresponsible person, he did not knot about the request to annear last month at the meeting, his wife got the letter and neglected to tell him. He did not feel he was i~''^osnonsible because he had turnne the oneration of the barn over to a person if they did not do what they were sunnosed to do he was sorry He had recentl" turned the oneration of the harm over to Sue ^et r• •'ho had done a vere good job inside the harp hut has found that it was too much of a job to keen nn Just recently he went on to say, hn had D17 'arrington running the stable. Dr Cosgrove said he had been over there two or three times and each tine the barn was not clean. Mrs. Daniel ^'arrincxton said that sometime the stable is rot com- pletely clean until late afternoon when the 'young meople +ho have horses there come from school. Mr Freeman said that Sue Petry had found taking care of the stable too much of a burden sn he had been able to get Dan Warrington to tal-e over. He went on to egllain that this would be Mr. T'arrington's job 'Tr. "arrington had already had two dunpsters brought in to take care of the manure, this would be a -permanent arrangement Mr Freeman said he had about 300 lbs. of hay and some shavings delivered He 577 assured the Board that the ranu re that had been dumped in the Yard ;ould be removed Hc ,aid he had taken a considerable amount of manure nut. 'ie claimed he had snent more than two hundred and fifty dollars tr'inq to get this barn back un to the level it was Mr. and Mrs T:arrington have taken over the barn on the basis of getting an Er:tended hermit. Dr. Cosgrove said, Mr. Freeman you are the owner of this nroperty and therefore You are responsible for the condition of the property The permit is issued to you 'Ute. you purchased this property you operated these stables fo- better than six months without a permit. I say you are very irresponsible Mr. Freeman said Mrs. Kelley stayed on the property for about seven months after he had purchased the property Dr. Cosgrove said no matter, Mr Freeman as owner should have come into the Board and got a new permit, these permits are not transferable. He went on to sa,z he had been out to the place three times in the past few months and the whole place was deplorable. Mr. Freeman said when he turned the place over to neonle to run it he thought they sere competent people He had not been able to check this place out as often as he should because he had many other -problems. Dr. Cosgrove said he felt that at the present time the Board could not grant Mr. Freeman a permit to 7:eep horses because he felt he was a very irresponsible person. Mr. Freeman said he resented being called irresponsible because he was a reputable builder in the Town of Lexington and had a reputation to uphold Mr Warrington asked if the Board had checked the barn the last time they were out on the property or had they just been looking at the grounds Dr Cosgrove said the permit to keep horses for Mr Freeman expired in October therefore he was keeping horses without a permit which was illegal Mr. Freeman said the Board had not told him to get the horses off the nroperty until a week ago and hF felt there were extenuating cir- cumstances which the Board should consider. Right now /we have gone to the dtunnster system to control the manure and the barn is cleaned daily. Dr. ':ll.icott asked if the barn was clean now. Mr. smith said it was better than it had been. Mr. Smith asked Mr. Freeman -fust how long he expected to keep horses on then premises. The nroperty 'as in the development stage Mr. Smith asked when Mr. Free- man planned to start building on this land. Mr Freer= said by the latest neyt spring. BSS *;r Smith said at which time yeu exnoct to get rid of all these horses *kg Mr. Freeman said "Yes" Dr. Ellicott said that now the barn met our standards that was okay but he was very distressed about the land. Mr. Lambie said there was a large manure pile in the rear of the barn. Dr. Ellicott said he saw manure near the brook and there seemed to be a pipe running through the land and draining into the brook. The brook was also damned up. Mr. Freeman said he had been ordered to stop doing anything to the land over there until he got his permits. The Building Inspector said he could not do any excavation until he had per- mission from the Conservation Committee. Dr. Fllicott said he would think he could maintain the land for the horses. Mr. Freeman said he had started to clear the land but had a stop work order from the Conservation Committee. Dr. Ellicott said there was certainly a drainage problem and with the land the way it is he could not put horses out in it. He went on to say he would be much more in favor of opening the land to drain and then get it dry to see if they could abate some of the health hazards over there Mr. Smith said they had nu'nped out the septic tank hoping this would eliminate some of the water problem but it did not. The odor was still there. Dr. Ellicott said he felt that was another issue. Mr. Freeman must get the manure cleaned up and correct the problem of standing water. Dr. Cosgrove said Mr Freeman had not cooperated with the Board of Health on any of the points mentioned and he wondered how long we must wait before anything is done. Mr. Lambie wondered what measures Mr. Freeman had taken to correct the problems which the Board had brought to his attention. Mr. Smith said in September 1974, there was some problems with the place, on September 13, 1974, a letter was sent stating that a permit for the horses would be granted for sixty days providing the manure and barn was cleaned up. At that time Mr. Freeman did spread the manure some but a great deal ?-'as put near the brook, after that no mere w's done Mr. Freeman said he felt that more than 90% of the manure was cleaned un and 10% ,ore was used by the neonle in the area for their gardens. He ?''ent en to sn that he hid Sue retry running the barn for him but she found it too much for her nurint7 the 'econd rt ].n ectehe-^, ')-n ^ --matte tool- ovrr t' b-rn nrr1 it . ^, rn- V^cf-1<. r pl-obab1Y to r-T ry vr'llcr i1^rrl to t-ne- 1t. The dr-,in nio intn the brook is clor^ea no- but thr re - rr "- v'-77 -ihy it . alcor be o'nc'd• oL -Srll't no, the ronsm-va tion Cr',-,is.,io.' has a stop mo -1 r1-de- Dr "1.1icott said that thorn are a number = things -hat -'ust he dont' The manure plena the hroek must he remr'ved. If that drain-an we s'- is from the septic sstem t-lat must he cer-ect"rl. D'' Cosgrove said he felt that there .,.,s ne condition th^t could not be pVerro... . if TT,- ''reemam set his mind to it '.1r S-i1-11 said .,e could give 10 dairs to correct the situation. D?r Yjmrlston said ''is daughter goes eveio' day because her horse is there be had commlainod =.hout conditions early this 'tea'- but during the past month and a half conditions have improved rrs. wi:1cr'ter ,aid, it seemed r. shame that now that conditions t-'ere improving that they •eul.d have to stop. Mr. Smith said more horses would create more problems. He went on to say he -'as veer disappointed with 'lr Freeman He thought he world be more responsive 4r. smith ,lent on to say that Mr. Freeman has more prob- lems than just the horses There's the problem of drainage and the oder. Freeman said that the improvements that Dan Marring-ton had made were most imenessive, the manure problem has been solved He agreed that he had no e' cuses for -hat had happened but there had been unmanageable circumstances. He +ent on to say he would open the brook and see what can be done with the standing water. Hopefully the problem will be resolved to the satisfaction of the Board Titer further discussion about the keeping of horses on Mr Freeman's property the Board said they would take the problems under advisement. rlr Freeman thanked the Board and retired. Mr Smith e.colained to the Board what he had requested regarding the septic system on Mr Freeman's propertl>. He said at this time they were waiting for a backhoe to dig up some of the Property and see what was causing the odor right now it looked like the wall board that was used as fill a few years back by Mr Kelley, was decomposing and causing the odor. He was going to have Mr. Freeman dig up as much as he could to see what the story was The letter from Dr Klein of the Early Childhood Lean Poisoning Program stating that there was no legal requirements for inspection by the Board of Health for Lead naint hazards before the transfer of ownership under the LEAD law, was read by the Board POISONING Mr. Smith said according to the regulations we were responsible for the health and safety of the young children in regard to lead paint poisoning but as long as Dr. Klein has stated we were not, Mr. Cohen, Town Counseler, said to go by Dr. Klein's letter_. Iie also feels that there is no law that makes the Board of Health responsible for making inspections. The Board agreed to go along with the procedures as set bYKr. Smith.