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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-06-059 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING JUNE 5, 1978 The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Monday, June 5, 1978 at 7:00 P.M. in Room G-15. Members present were: Dr. William L. Cosgrove, Chariman; James W. Lambie, Dr. Michael Erdos, and George A. Smith, Director of Public Health. The minutes of the April 11, 1978 and May 1, 1978 meetings were approved as read. The letter and "Environmental Impact Statement" regarding mosquitoes MOSQUITO from Manfred Friedman was discussed by the Board. CONTROL Mr. Friedman has always opposed the mosquito control program believing that it provides no health benefits. At this time he feels that the in- secticide poisons put into the environment for mosquito control has caused a member of his family to have a cancer attack. There is no medical tests or exams to back-up this belief at this time. The Board after a short discussion felt that because the mosquito con- trol program did a minimum of spraying with insecticides they would talk to Mr. Friedman in the Fall before the new budget was discussed. SEWER The Board will meet with the Board of Selectmen at 9:15 p.m. to discuss MORATORIUM the sewer moratorium. Dr. Cosgrove said he felt that he would like to see the sewer moratorium continued until such time as the engineers came up with a plan that would assure him that there would be no sewage back-up into the homes. He also said he felt it would be up to the Selectmen to come up with proof that this moratorium is not necessary. Mr. Smith said the Selectmen could also take the moratorium off anytime. The Board discussed the moratorium and decided that they could not rec- ommend approval of lifting the moratorium until Public Works could dem- onstrate that there would be no health hazards caused by the backing up of raw sewage. They also thought a complete "I and I" study should be completed before the moratorium is lifted. Mr. Lambie said he felt that Public Works and the Selectmen's Office had not given the Board enough information regarding this "I & I" problem nor what they were planning to do to control the whole thing. He went on to say he felt that the "I & I" study was very important and that until we have all the information we could not evaluate the situation properly. He also said he would rather not see the moratorium lifted at this time. He said that with or without the moratorium the Board of Health should be kept informed of the action being taken by the Public Works Department and the Board of Selectmen. The Board said they wanted to see that the people in the disaster area did not have sewage backing up in their homes even if it meant pumping chlorinated sewage into the swamp. The Board said they would like some assurance that there would be no more sewage backing up into the homes, they also decided to wait and see what the Board of Selectmen had to say at their meeting tonight. 9 3 Mr. Smith reported to the Board that the department had received a 'BICENTENNIAL number of registered letters from the residents of Bicentennial Farms sub- FARMS division complaining about the drainage and the retention ponds. Mr. Smith said that when it rains these drainage ditches and retention ponds do hold the water and the people do not like the lookd of it. The drainage ditch does need some maintenance but the people will not do it. Be went on to say the day he was over inspecting with Mr. Prentiss of the Conservation Commission they found old bicycles and debris in the drainage ditches and when that was cleaned out the water flowed immediately. He went on to say that he thought that the people in the area feel that the Town should go in and service these ditches and ponds or else pipe the whole thing through the sibdivision. Dr. Erdos asked if the Planning Board had approved this subdivision with the retention ponds and etc. Mr. Smith said "Yes". Mr. Smith said that when we received these complaint letters he requested the Town Engineer to evaluate the problem. Mr. Martin has responded and stated that the Planning Board is going to re -open this subdivision file with this drainage problem as one of the main objectives. Mr. Freeman has been instructed to complete the drainage and clean up the area which he is at- tempting to do. Mr. Martin, in his memo, also pointed out that when this subdivision was approved Mr. Freeman made an appeal to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering with respect to the storm water retention facilities and associated drainage so as a result of the final acceptance of the design and construction the responsibility will be the D.E.Q.E. The people in this subdivision want us to correct this problem for them but there is very little we can do. It is up to the people to keep the swales and the retention ponds clean. In dry weather these places will dry up except where the springs are. Mr. Smith said that with respect to the request from Mr. Freeman to in- stall a septic system on the one lot in the Bicentennial Farms Subdivision Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel, seems to feel that because of the moratorium we have to allow the septic system. Mr. Smith went on to explain that the Planning Board is not satisfied with Mr. Cohen's answer and were planning to discuss this at one of their meetings. Therefore, the Board could not make a decision at this time. If, however, it was agreed to let Mr. Freeman install a septic system he felt the Board should request a bond to be filed with the Health Department. The Board agreed with Mr. Smith but said they would wait until the Planning Board had re -opened the case. Dr. Erdos asked if there was a health hazard being caused by the drainage etc. in the area. Mr. Smith said not a health hazard but a health nuisance but one that could be avoided if the people there would do their own housecleaning. Dr. Erdos said as far as he could see most of these drainage problems were up to the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board in the terms of the Wetland Protection Act. 9 4 Dr. Erdos said he felt that if this was not a health hazard then we should send letters to these people stating that we had reviewed the problem and feel that this is a Planning Board and Conservation Commission problem. He also said he felt that Mr. Freeman should correct any of the things that need correcting in this area. Mr. Smith said that regarding the septic system he had told Mr. Briggs that he would not issur a permit for the septic system until we had a written report from the Planning Board and until we issue a septic system permit a building permit cannot be issued. Planning Board will not issue an opinion until they have a report from Town Counsel. BURROUGHS Mr. Smith reported that in April he had called Burroughs Corporation CORPORATION to start them on their way to connect to public sewer and get that problem solved. Investigation of what was causing the delay showed that Miller & Nylander claimed they could not get in touch with the Conservation Com- mission. Mr. Smith went on to say that he did go to Town Manager and tell him that if Burrough's did not get this matter resolved he would have to close the building this year, we could not go on as it has been. Mr. Hutchinson did call the Burroughs Corporation and told them they must take affirmative action immediately or the Town would take them to court and the Health Department would have to close the building. Mr. Smith said since that time things seem to be moving right along. Dr. Cosgrove asked about the sewer connection to Wild Acre Inn. WILD ACRE INN Mr. Smith said that as it stands right now they will be starting work, very soon. TODD ROAD LOT 47 Dr. Cosgrove asked what the Town was going to do with regard to this system and Mr. Smith said "nothing" Dr. Yudowitz had hired private con- tractors to do the work and it was the difference in the bids that has delayed the work so far. However, with the use of a new pressure sewer which has been approved by the State and Federal EPA work should move right along. The Town will give some assistance in closing the road. Dr. Cosgrove asked about Lot 47 Todd Road. Mr. Smith asid this was a lot that Mark Moore wanted to develop. He said that he had gone out to test the lot for the high water table and they had hit water at four feet which was not too good. Mr. Moore had Mr. Nylander design a system for this lot but at the present time this is not a good design for this lot. As it stands now this lot will re- quire a great deal of filling before a septic system can be installed. Mr. Smith went on to say that he has an appointment with Mr. Nylander to go over this system. No action was taken by the Board at this time. Mr. Smith explained that a letter had been received from M.I.T., Lincoln Laboratory on Wood Street requesting permission to use a septic system which had been installed in 1946 for a fighter control system. This system has been used off and on for several years but not on a regular basis. It is a very large system. M.I.T. now wants to combine 1 1 1 93 seceral small buildings into one and put a small addition on to one of the larger buildings and because of the moratorium they cannot connect to public sewer. There will not be an increase in the amount of sewage but there will be about 80 people in the one building. This system is huge, there is about 10,000 square feet of leaching. Mr. Smith said that the system was tested and it worked like a charm. The Board approved this request for a permit to conduct a pool side food service at the Sheraton -Lexington Motor Inn was approved with the provisions SHERATON - that all paper service is used and any other conditions stipulated last year. LHXINNTON POOL It was agreed that the Board would meet with Manfred Friedman at the September meeting. A letter will be sent to Mr. Friedman. At 8:45 p.m. members of the Recreation Committee and the Permanent Build- ing Committee came in to discuss the plans for the new Center Pool complex. CENTER POOL It was explained that the Board of Health must approve the pool plans before construction can begin. Dr. Cosgrove said he was concerned about the deck around the pool being made of a non-skid surface material. Mr. Smith said that the Article VI of the State Sanitary Code which is now part of the Environmental Code must be used instead of the American Public Health Code. Article VI should be followed for all the mech ni al and filtra- tion and circulation requirements. This facility will be connected to public sewer. It is expected that building will commence a year from this September. Mr. Smith said the wading pool must have its own filter, the plans show that it is being filtered on the same filter as the instructional pool. If the wading pool became fouled it could also affect the instructional pool. Mr. Smith went on to say that the entrance to the pool should be through the shower room, this is also in accordance with the State Code. The set up on the plans showed one entrance into the pool and this was to insure that people took a shower before going into the pool. Mr. Smith said he would be glad to work with the Permanent Building Committee and the archetect to insure that the final plans meet all the State Code requirements. The Recreation and Building Committee thanked the Board and retired. The Board of Health signed the following permits and licenses and then retired to meet with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the sewer moratorium. Nursing Home Approval for: Dana House Hancock House Nursing Home East Village Nursing Home