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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-02-13TRANSPORT OF GARBAGE (RENDERING MATERIAL) Corenco Corp., Lowell Rendering Co. RUBBISH DISPOSAL PERMIT Middlesex Disposal Co. Charles George Trucking Co. (3 trucks) Joseph Motzkin & Sons SCA Disposal Services Miller Disposal Inc. (12 trucks) SEWAGE DISPOSAL PERMIT Suburbanite Cesspool Service (4trucks) Joseph H. App Co., Inc. RiteClean Cesspool Service W. A. Campbell d/b/a Sewer Reamer Service Sewer Man INSTALLERS PERMIT Suburbanite Cesspool Service, Inc. L. M. Carroll ANIMAL PERMIT Andrew Wasilec, Ridge Rd., 1 horse Mr.. Smith,reported to the Board that it was thought that the Center Pool sanitary facilities were connected to two open brooks, The Board noted that if this was the case the facility should be closed immediately. BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING FEBRUARY 13, 1978 The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Monday, February 13, 1978 at 7:00 p.m. in the Health Department Office. Members present were: Dr. William L. Cosgrove, Charian; Mr. James Lambie, Dr. Michael S. Erdos and Director of Public Health, George A. Smith. Mrs. Nancy Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager attended this meeting. The minutes of the January 9, 1978 Meeting were approved as read. Mr. Smith asked the Board members if they had any questions or com- RIDGE ESTATES ments regarding the action of the Conservation Commission relative to TI Ridge Estates II. He went on to say that the Conservation Commission could not make any ruling or recommendation until Mr. Freeman submits specific plans for the sibdivision including placement of the septic systems and all drainage plans. Mr. Smith said Mr. Freeman and his engineer must prove the validity of each lot. Dr. Cosgrove said, once again, the Board is concerned with drainage, water and sewage disposal, these things should be shown on the engineer's report. Mr. Smith said the Conservation Commission would set the order of conditions for any of the wet land on this subdivision. He went on to say that the Board should consider how they wanted to handle this sub- division as far as engineering was considered. `3 It was asked if the Board could not use Mr. Freeman's engineer if he was reputable. Mr. Smith dis say he didn't think that would be a good idea. He sug- gested that we hire our own engineer to go through the plans before it is approved by the Board. The Board agreed and suggested that Mr. Smith contact the Town Manager about hiring our own engineer if this subdivision did have to go to septic systems because of the sewer moratorium. Mr. Smith said he had been out to re -check the Spaulding & Slye property at 1-5 Forbes Road where they have proposed to build a. 230 square foot of- 1-5 FORBES fice building. The water table was up another foot and at this secomd in- ROAD spection it was figured that they could put in one septic system instead of the two. This will allow them to build the one building instead of the two that was originally planned. Mr. Smith went on to say that he is sure Spaulding & Slye hope the sewer moratorium is lifted before they are ready to install septic systems but they cannot get a building permit until we approve the lots and the system With the water table as high as it is we cannot approve the lots for two septic systems and before approval could be granted more information regarding the pumps to be used must be submitted. The Board instructed Mr. Smith to stay with the problem. The use of the Emergency Medical Service was brought to the Board's at- tention. Dr. Erdos said that he had never received a call through that service, he said his group had their own service that included all the doctors except Dr. Gerber. He went on to explain that about ten to twelve times a year they are called upon to pronounce a person dead rather than transport EMERGENCY that person to the hospital. He went on to explain that when a doctor is MEDICAL called for this type of emergency the patient is usually one who did not have a pyysician of their own choice or it was an accidental death, in either case the medical examiner should be the one called and not a physician. Dr. Erdos went on to explain that he had met with the Town Manager to discuss this problem and at the present time everything seemed to be straightened out. The Board asked if the doctors received many calls through the Emergency Medical Service paid for by the Board of Health. Dr. Erdos said "No" that the doctors had made up their own -chedule so that in an emer cncy one of the doctors could be reached. After further discussion of this service it was agreed to check out the number of calls made to this number by the Police or Fire Department. Also it was agreed we should check with the doctors who have been listed on the service. The Board agreed that if this service was not being used they would dis- continue the service. Mr. Smith reported that they had a memo from John McSweeney regarding the sewer surcharge of January 26, 1978. It was found that at that time it was not the sewage causing the problem but the infiltration into the SEWER SURCHARGE 1-26-78 1 system. That day there was also sewage coming out of the storm drains. Dr. Erdos said that talking with the people in the Brookside and Saddle Club Road area they had nothing but the highest commendation for the Health Officer and the crews of men working in the area during that crisis. The people in the area felt that the problem had been handled very well. Mr. Smith said he felt that Public Works was not as well organized to handle the situation as they should have been. He said the pumps used that day should have been on hand for the emergency. He went on to say he felt the sewer problem could be handled better than it was being handled. He felt that building a dike and chlorinating the effluent and then draining into Klyne Brook was bad. Mr. Lambie said he thought a better plan could be made and this plan should be included in the contingency plan that we have requested. Mr. Smith said he felt that we were no better off than we were before. Mr. Lambie said maybe we should write a sterner letter and give them a time limit to submit to us a contingency plan. Mr. Smith said there had been some thought of dropping the sewer moratorium. He felt the Board should not agree to that until we had a good contingency plan. The Board discussed the completion plan for the numicipal sewer and they wondered about the adviseability of recommending completion of the sewer program when the sewer moratorium is on. Mr. Lambie said he felt that another letter regarding the sewage problem should be put together and a date placed on when this contingency plan should be submitted. He said he did not feel that the first of April would be unreasonable. Dr. Erdos said he felt an open letter to the Minute Man was in order of this problem. Mr. Smith said that he had sent a memo to the Board of Selectmen, Mr. McSweeney and Donald Irwin regarding the illegal sewer connections. He said the laws of Chapter 83 of the General Laws state that either the Selectmen or the Public Works Department have charge of enforcing this law. The floor drains which were found to be illegal would be up to Donald Irwin to make the builder or homeowner break. Mr. Smith reported to the Board that Town Manager had requested him to look into charging a fee for the Rabies innoculation. He said he RABIES would be against it because the licensing fees had been raised a dollar INNOCULATIONS this year to cover this clinic. Also, he preferred not to charge for this innoculation and change our policy because it was good from the public health stand point. The free clinic also was a good way to get the dogs licensed which did cut down on our delinquent list. The Board agreed they did not want to change policy and they voted to recommend that no fee be charged for the innoculation of Rabies in licensed dogs. Mrs. Nand! Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager, explained that the retirement of Donald Irwin, Building Commissioner, brought about a study to see if the merging of the Inspection Department and the Health Department would be adviseable. It has been discovered that although both departments do inspections they are entirely different things. One department inspects for the physical condition while the other is inspecting for the living quality. Mrs. Banks went on to explain that she and Mr. Smith had visited Fitchburg where they had conducted a very in-depth study of this problem and after that visit her recommendation to the Town Manager was that these de- partments must be kept separate. However, they may be moving the Sealer of Weights & Measures into the Health Department but more study would be done on this before moving this department. Dr. Cosgrove said that if the Sealer of Weights & Measures would be an- other burden on Mr. Smith then he would be against it. He felt that this did not seem to be a Health function. Mrs. Banks said more study would be done before anything is finalized. Mr. Smith reported that he had met at the landfill with Mr. St. Hilare LANDFILL of the Department of Environmental Quality Engineers and while there they did discuss the dumping of garbage in the landfill. Mr. St. Hilare said that a properly operated landfill could have garbage disposed of but he was very emphatic that Lexington did not operate a proper landfill. Mr. Smith went on to say that the landfill should be under the jurisdiction of the Board of Health. The Board of Health then can make any rules and regulations governing this operation, but in Lexington the landfill is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen and they or the Public Works Department make the rules and regulations. Dr. Cosgrove said that as far as he could see the Town was in trouble with the landfill, the landfill was to serve the Town for 20 years and that time period is pretty well gone. They cannot expand this operation because of the leachate and etc. Mr. Smith said that because of this record breaking snowstorm and the dif- ficulty of getting the garbage picked up the Town Manager was giving people permission to take their garbage into the landfill. This was to be an em- ergency measure only. Mr. Smith announced that word had been received and that the M.D.C. was to start fluoridation in the water supply on February 6 or 7. FLUORIDATION The Board expressed their approval. Mr. Smith said we had received notification of the new Pneumoccoccal Vaccine and that it would be available on a State purchasing contract PNEUMOCCOCCAL after the 15th of February. VACCINE The following permits were signed by the Board: FOOD ESTABLISHES SS Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Store Cain's Seafoods, Inc. Sheraton Lexington Motor Inn Itek Building #2 Dunkin Donuts F 6 HEALTH FAIR MVMHA INSTALLERS PERMITS John A. Devine Construction Co. ANIMAL PERMITS Lisa T. Fitzgerald DISPOSAL PERMITS Northeast Disposal Corp. Ace Disposal Service Inc. (3) Meeting was adjourned at 10430 P.M. At 7:30 P.M. at the Board Meeting on February 13, 1978, Jean Woods, TriCommunity Health Services and Christina Miller, Council on Aging, met with the Board to discuss a Health Fair which they are planning with other Health Organizations such as Lexington Red Cross, Symmes Hospital and Mystic Valley Mental Health. Mrs. Wood said the purpose of this "Fair" was to help the promotion and education of Health services for people. Also to encourage people to take an active part in their health and well being. Mrs. Miller said they hoped to conduct some screening clinics at this fair for children. Also to have some special equipment for testing and showing people a positive reaction to illness. They also hope to obtain the services of Bill Rogers to speak on Health problems., Mrs. Wood went on to explain how they hoped to get some of the service clubs to carry out their screening programs at the same time. Dr. Cosgrove asked if Mrs. Wood wanted some financial aid. She said "Yes". Dr. Cosgrove said funds would be hard for the Board to ge because all our budgets have gone in and unless a specific item was requested we would have trouble getting any funds. After further discussion Dr. Cosgrove suggested Mrs. Wood write down specific amounts and what they were for and submit this to the Board for con.7ideration and discussion. Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Miller thanked the Board for their time and retired. At 8:00 P.M. at the Board Meeting on February 13, 1978, Dr. Isenstadt, Assistant Psychiatrist of the Mystic Valley Mental Health Clinic and Mr. Frank Lynch, MVMHA fiscal officer came before the Board to discuss the budget for fy 78-79. Dr. Isenstadt referred to a letter that had been sent to Town Manager describing the various services provided by the MVMHC to the citizr:ns of Lexington. (Note: The Health Department has not received a copy of this letter.) Some of these services were: five branch clinics, a centralized special crisis intervention team housed at the Lexington Center, two female adolescent homes, theraputic nursery school in Burlington Mental Retardation Clinic in Burlington and also consultants and educators at the M.V.M.H.A. Dr. Isenstadt once again explained how many hours were spent on a patient and their parents or the family as a whole. He said when a patient is seen at the clinic the cost is usually about $4.50 per session this could be multimlied to include as many members of the family they might have to meet with to help this patient. He also continued to give the the statistics on how many Lexington families are using the services offered and how many hours are spent with Lexington people. He went on to say he felt they were doing a good job. Dr. Cosgrove said he could not understand why MVMHA thought it was so awful when we asked if they could reduce their budget by 5% percent. Dr. Isenstadt said that although monies for salaries came from the State and Federal Government some of the funds used to pay for extra work hours for the staff came from the Towns. Dr. Cosgrove questioned a few of the individual expense accounts such as; telephone, dues and membership fees. Dr. Isenstadt said if the dues were for a professional organ±±ation then clinic funds were used but if it was membership for an individual then he used his own funds. Dr. Cosgrove said he did not see why MVMHA, needed a public relations account. Dr. Isenstadt said that MVMHA did not reach the average person to acquaint them with the services available therefore they did use a public relations service. Dr. Erdos said we bad been charged to reduce our operating budget and all the budgets under our jurisdiction b 5% percent and he did not think that an unreasonable request. Dr. Isenstadt said he felt that MVMHA had done well to keep their budget at the same figure as last year. He went on to say he doubted that they could cut the budget by 5 percent and continue to give the Town the services they do. Dr. Erdos said he did not think we were asking a great deal by requesting a cut of 5% percent. Dr. Erdos also questioned how it was determined if a patient needed psychiatric help and how often a patient saw the psychiatrist. Dr. Isenstadt explained how the evaluation of a person was conducted when they first attended the clinic. After further discussion Dr. Cosgrove thanked Dr. Isenstadt and Mr. Lynch for coming in. BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING MARCH 7, 1978 The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Tuesday, March 7, 1976 in Room G-15 of the Town Office Building. Members present were: Dr. William L. Cosgrove, Chairman; James W. Lambie, Dr. Cichael S. Brdos, George A. Smith, Director of Public Health. Dr. Cosgrove reported that Mrs. Jean Wood representative of the Health Fair had withdrawn her request for the Board to approve payment of the Tri Community Nurses for their services at the Health Fair, which is being planned for sometime in May. HEALTH FAIR