HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-10-16 f)5 R
after hours getting more and more paper work done, he is also being given more
jobs to do than he has time for.
The Board agreed that Mr. Hutchinson should be contacted and a request sub-
mitted for extra help for Mr Smith.
The following permits were signed by the Board.
Syringe Permits Installer's Permits
Robert Cataldo, 3 cattle Arlex Oil Corp (Dave Eagle)
Anne M. Butler, 2 goats, 1 horse
Francis W.K. Smith, 4 goats Swimming Pool Permits
Barry Rose, 1 pony Minute Man Condos Association
Ralph Frissore, 6 horses
Diran D Keshian, 2 horses Mobile Food Server
Paul B Lloyd, 2 steer, 5 horses Philip F Doherty
1 goat, 25 chickens Dwight Robinson
Lelia B Barrington, 1 horse Ben Freitas
Food Establishment Permits Retail Food Store Permits
Yangtze River Restaurant Hancock Market
Living & Learning School McArdle & Mottla, Inc
Kentucky Fried Chicken Alexander's Convenience Store
Milipore Corp Cafeteria Concord Hill Market
Ginn & Co Cafeteria Gloria Food Store
W. R. Grace Co. C V S Inc
Krebs School Foundation, Inc. Highland Food Mart
Alexander's Pizza Shop Cheryl's Bakery
Lexington House of Pizza Doran's Greenhouse Inc
Ralph Bishop's Seafood Colonial Pharmacy
Minute Nan Restaurant Village Food Stores Inc. (Mass Ave )
Grace Chapel, Inc. Village Food Stores Inc. (Bedford St.)
Hancock Market Royal Pastry Shop
Melting Pot International
Stop & Shop Companies, Inc.
Mother Earth Natural Foods
Cumberland Farms, Woburn St.
Meeting was adjourned at 10 00 P M.
BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING
OCTOBER 16, 1978
The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Monday October 16, 1978
at 7 00 P M in room G-15 of the Town Office Building. Members present were
Dr [wwilliam L Cosgrove, Chairman; Mr James t^. Lambie, Dr Michael S Erdos and
George A. Smith, Director of Public Health
The minutes of the September 11, 1978 meeting were approved with the cor-
rection regardinn the permits at the Minute Man Condominium Pool.
Dr. Cosgrove reported that the Budgets would be due the 27th of October BUDGETS
Also the departments had been recruested to show how they cou]d reduce their FY - 80
budgets by 10%.
Line items were discussed regarding a 10% reduction
Dr. Cosgrove stated there was no way he could see to reduce the personnel
carniee acoeunts by 10%
106 0
Mr. Smith reported that the Flu Clinic was scheduled for October 26,
FLU CLINIC 1078, from 2 - 5 p.m at Cary Hall for Senior Citizens and Town Employees
He also explained to the Board that we did have trouble obtaining influenza
vaccine The State has now informed us that the Federal Government would II/be suppling some vaccine on a limited basis but the vaccine will not be
available until later on
Mr Smith said that we might be allotted approximately 1140 doses for
people 26 years of age and over and 210 doses for children age 0-25 He
went on to say that this would not be enough vaccine to offer the general
public and the department would be expected to 'urchase additional vaccine
if a clinic was held for the general public
Dr Cosgrove asked if Mr. Smith had checked on the pneumoccoccal
vaccine and he said "yes'' it would cost approximately $5 00 dollars per
dose It is expected that next year it will be cheaper and there is some
talk that the Federal Government might sponsor a clinic
Dr Cosgrove instructed Mr Smith to write to Mr Tropeano stating that
the Board of Health would not be conducting a pneumoccocnal vaccine program
Mr. Smith reported that Mr Ralph Hall, realtor and developer, of
HALL Thyme Farm on North Street, had called a number of times requesting an
NORTH ST. extension of the high water tests and percolation tests done two years
ago on lots he has on North Street He explained that he had told Mr Hall
to put his request in writing so the Board would have something to vote
on. He did explain that every house Mr. Hall has constructed in this sub-
division has been placed on a different site than the original plans show
The Board agreed that there was nothing they could do until such time
as Mr. Hall wrote his request.
Mr. Smith explained that Lot 3, 56 North Street, the old barn has been
56 NORTH ST moved on the lot. The Board approved a septic system for this building in
7977 but the plan has been changed but the soil conditions for the septic
system were still good. He said he just wanted to make the Board aware
of the changes
Mr. Smith reported that he had received a letter a d a copy of an
BRUCCHI application from Mabel Owens, Department of Agriculture, Animal Health re-
STABLE garding an application for a license to operate a riding school made by
John Brucchi, 63 Paul Revere Road. Miss Owens stated in her letter that
the regulations for the riding school will not supercede any of the
Board of Health or Town regulations. The S P.C.A. does have the inspection
authority for this riding school Mr Smith said he had requested that Mr
Martin said he had requested that Mr Martin of the S P.C.A. be the in-
spection agent and he has already reported that unless the manure was
handled in a better manner he would not approve the license application
Mr Smith reviewed the history of Mr. Brucchi's animal permits and
stated that at the present time he does have a permit to keep 8 horses.
Also Mr Littleton Animal Inspector reports that he does keep a clean
place but he has also suggested better handling of the manure
Dr Cosarove asked if Mr. Brucchi didn't have to go before the Board
of Appeals to conduct a business in a residential area.
Mr Smith said "Yes" but he had discussed this with Mr. Cohen, To•m
Counsel, Mr. George Wadsworth, Chairman; Planning Board and Town Counsel
has advised that the only thing we can do is send a copy of the material we
' received from Mrs. Owens to the Board of Appeals and any other department
affected by Mr. Brucchi' s action. He said he will also send a letter to
Mrs. Owens, Department of Agriculture and state that we have issued Mr.
Brucchi a permit to keep 8 horses but that we will not have any jurisdic-
tion over the running of the business.
Mr. Smith renorted on the rodent problem in the ?loodpark Estates Sub- WOODPARK
division. He explained that to date he has met with the residents in the ESTATES -
area, people at the National Park, the developer and Mr. Moran of the P.ODENTS
cosquito control The brook i.n the area has been checked and Mr. Lane the
developer will clean it out but Mr. Smith said he would continue to work
with the residents of the area until the problem is controlled.
!\t 8 00 p.m Mr. Manfred Friedman, 176 Grove Street, came before the
Board to discuss the mosquito control program
Mr. n'riedman had sent to the *loard merabers information he had taken from
the New York Times, July 9, 1978 edition, regarding mosquito spraying and r esor*Tmnc_
control effectiveness. Mr Friedman contends that the sprayine for mosquitos FT'T-IT,°IN
is ineffective, a threat to the residents because of the chemicals and also
a waste of the tax payers money He also feels that the spraying could cause
diseases in man such as cancer. The larvaciding work he feels only makes the
mosquito insenitive to the chemicals. The drainage work is good but in his
mind there is no way to control the mosquito. He went on to say that the
drainage wort- done by the 'ast Middlesex Control people was probably the best
work done, therefore he would suggest they stop the spraying for mosquito
control in nuisance conditions
Dr Cosgrove asked how he would suggest that we get rid of the mosquito.
Mr Friedman said there was no way to get rid of the mosruitn Mr.
Friedman at this point also requested that he be referred to as Dr Friedman
Dr Erdos spoke about the comments made by Dr Friedman and agreed that
there was no proof that pesticides caused cancer or other diseases He felt
that spraying as a nuisance control might be neeessare in a crisis 'rear but
he did not feel that the spraying chemicals used could be any more harmful
than the fertilizer or pesticide '•pr,ays used in the aa-don or on the lawns
around the homes He rent an fn say he .,ould want the richt to Sara; in the
eroh1e7 ;ears. These pe lsm- s tYen, 1t when there � a�
e' cesrive rain-
fall
or when the "tate c1-4" s theYe is 'n outbrea}- of d. ee:se .hich could
ho caused by the .r^n'uito T'rdos qre' that the d tch no and drainage
wort' -as effect ye and durire the pr-blem *years this 'or` she" i he ;tr'o'ar'd
ue
er Erd°s went on to sa'* t1'nt he felt that s-nrwwine and tether " eev'ntive
:.'o1-1. be t^.•-,,,d u'- when doclrn?ntod oases of mos^,1i.to caused rl ,-e nes
are reno'"te_d. He agreed th-'t people coil d '`et very emotional about the
mo° o'i to nrohl er but "'e -Felt 'a would never control the mosc•ji to and he rent
on to say he thought ret this ^pint we were tai -inn about a budget ite-^.
Dr Friodmen agreed it .as , budget iter+ and he -could 1i' e to see the
ditch ug and drainage or conti nue het the sorevino be felt should o'-1 ' '-e
dome ,bon the eenertl ent r- F Public Health ret the "tnt^ level e ou ded it.
168
He felt tl:e s-raving as it was done no' ^as very ineffective
Dr enscrove cited a case of a mild he saw v,ith her legs bandaged
'here mosquito bites had become infected, also another case of children in
the Wood Park states "here the child's he'd bad bites on it. He said we
knee' that m°squitoes are a nuisance but he felt that they do cause disease
and infection and yet all Dr. Friedman talks about is the use of pesticides
Dr Friedman said he did not think Dr Cosgrove understood his stand,
he went on to say that we had been receiving the benefits of the East
Middlesex Mosquito Control Program for some twenty years and people are
still being bitten so he would therefore have to feel that this work was
ineffective.
Dr Cosgrove said he had lived in Lexington a long time and he re-
members when yen could not go outside to the yard to sit because of the
mosquitoes, yet today people are able to use their yards so something must
have been accomplised
Mr. Lambie said that was a point he would like to make, he went on
to say that Dr Friedman has started off with the premise that the mos-
quito nrogram was ineffective yet he felt something was effective.
Dr Friedman again said he did not feel that the program was effective
The spraying is done in an area. and for a few days there is some relief
to the mosquito but in the meantime peoples homes are permeated by the
spray
Mr Lambie said he was still not convinced that if you went through
a whole summer without spraying that you would have the same number of mosquito.
than if you had mosquito work done
After further discussion Dr. Erdos said he had not mentjaned this be-
fore but he felt we were our own undoing. In fact, Dr Friedman as a
member of the Planning Board should be able to stop the development of
the Wetland and fringe areas where the wet areas are. The Planning Board
has let the developer put in retention ponds which are a breeding area
for the mosquito and as long as we continue to approve these developments
we will have these mosquito problems
Dr. Friedman said that was a good point but the laws of the land did
protect the developer He felt that if the Board of Health would issue
a statement to the Planning Board requesting them to hold up on any plans
in a fringe area they would be delighted to do it.
Dr Cosgrove then called upon Mr Kevin Moran, East Middlesex Iosquito
Control Director
Mr. Moran thanked Dr. Friedman for his compliment regarding the
ditching and drainage work, he went on to explain that in many areas he
could not get in to do the ditching work hut he did go up to Wood Park
Circle with Mr Smith and by working with the developer and the Health
Director they hoped to solve some of the problems in the area.
Mr. Moran said he felt Dr. Friedman should look at the Impact State-
ment he has referred to so often because there were several misquotes made
in the statement. He went on to explain and to rectify many of these
statements regarding the larvaciding techniques and the spraying results.
� r
9
i W
He also said he had talked to ?Ir Maxfield who had written this statement and
Mr Maxfield had been misinformed as to the larvacide techniques and a fey*
other things
Mr. Moran explained about the different species of mosquitoes and the
practice of spraying and other methods of control Dr Friedman had named
a few towns which he said had withdrawn from the mosquito control program,
Mr. Moran stated that a number of these Towns had already been in touch with
him to resume their membership in the East Middlesex losquito Control Pro-
gram or in other area programs.
He also named the different areas in Town which had been sprayed during
the warm weather. He also said he could control the mosquito by using a
stronger spra•' but they did use a lo- vluee spray for the safety of the
peoele and they did their spraying work in early evening when -Jost people
were inside and also at that time no harm would come to the honey bee He
went on to say they used the safest chemicals available and they are killing
the moseuitoes that are there but they cannot control the ones that fly in
from other areas Ire said by waiting for the State Health Department to order
spraying it could be too late in a disease control situation because although
the State does a lot of testing it takes about 2 weeks before they order protection
after a case of encephilites or other disease is diagnosed He said he worked
under the Department of 7elriculture and they can move faster than the Department
of Public Health
Mr Moran went on to say he felt that the Town was getting a good program
for it' s money especially the larvacide program, the ointer pre-hatch program
and the adult control program along with the ditching program. He explained
that the ditchin'r program is expensive and they cannot get to every ditch in
a year.
Dr. Cosgrove asked how safe the chemicals were and Mr. Moran said they
were the safest chemicals available. He also pointed out that the Environ-
mental. Impact Statement had been made in 1975 and he asked if t are hadn't
been improvements since then
Mr. Moran stated that this statement was made after the fact of the
encephalitis outbreak in 1973 and 1974 He also explained further about this
statement
After further discussion Dr Friedman likened the mosquito control pro-
gram to the use of sacchrine for people who are not able to tolerate sugar but
can use sacchrine but there is always the potential of cancer the same can be
aprlied to the mosquito spraying.
Mrs Brady, 2 Munroe Road, said that she and her child were affected by
the spraying. She claimed she had written a letter to the Poard of Health
regarding this problem about five years ago
Mr Moran said he would checl- his records on this.
?1 few other people spoke in favor of Mr Friedman's ideas.
Dr Cosgrove thanked everyone for coming in. Dr. Friedman said he hoped
the Board of Health would support him at the next Town Meeting when he talked
about the use of the '?osqu .to Control Program.
Mr Smith said he had worked very closely with Mr Moran and he felt that
the program was very effective
Mr Michael Kasbua of Burroughs Corporation and Mr. Thomas G. Monahan
BURROUGHS of Miller and Nylander, Division of Boston Survey Co , came before the
CORPORTTIor Board to discuss the progress of the order to connect the Burroughs Corp-
oration building to public sewer
Dr Cosgrove reviewed the problem of the sewer at Burroughs Corporation,
Inc. He stated that two Springs have gone by since the order to connect
this building to public Sewer and he wanted to know what the progress was
now. He said over a year ago he had been assured that the work would be
done by now.
Dr Erdos was brought up to date on this problem as he had not been
a member of the Board when this problem was first acted upon.
Mr Smith explained that this problem has been pending since he first
came to work here, and it has been by various tests and studies been deter-
mined that there is no way to correct this problem except by connecting
the building to public sewer. 71t the present time to keep the problem
under control the system is being pupped every other day Burroughs Corp.
has hired Miller and Nylander to draw the plans for connecting this to
public newer. They have had to go through the Conservation Commission,
Engineering and tre Ctatc' Public 'orks Department. ;7e do have a letter
from Mr C. Lorah of the Burroughs Corn, stating thel honed to have this
•,•:ori- done h; Tune neth of this year but this is now October and we have
not .ode any progress
or "rdcr asked if this wa'". ust an office building or were there
laboratories -hero chemicals more used H- 'as told it "as just an office
bui'ding
:r. Rasbua said that there 'as no chemicals used in the woo'- in the
building but peonle were going in and out all da" Jong He said probably
there "a- /bout 7s^ nrople in the building during the dny through the work
,Bek
Dr. Cosgrove asked Mr Monahan if they had a plan vet?
Tr r^onahan said Yes they did and showed the p•oard the plan. He also
,aid they h,.d fired for their Wetland Fearing which. 'as set for Tuesd^y
evening This :len has been accented by the Town Sngineer; so they honed
to st-rt work as soon ^s possible. The corse thing that can happen nob. is
to he socked in bY the ,eather
'r Smith said that a lot of the work would depend on locating the
sleeve which goes under Route 2.
r. Monahan said th'-t ' as right but they did not expect any further
bloc. s now
Mr Smith said Burroughs had been holding their own by keening the
system -limped
'r T'ashua said that Burroughs was doing all they could to get this
corrected
*^r. Smith said he wanted to see this corrected because if it wasn't
corrected soon he would have to close the building.
Mr Monahan said they would keep the Board ;nformed:
The Board thanked the gentlemen for coming
i'r. Smith remorted to the Board on the action tla t was now '-eing taken over
at BiCentennial Estates He explained that when the Conservation Commission
ha,d nut their order or restrictions on the subdivision, Mr. rreem.an went to
DEOF and they gave Mr. Freeman permission to go ahead with his plans. (The
DEOE can overrule the local boards)
Dr. Erdos read a letter from Mr. Siegel to DEQE stating he felt Mr Freeman
had not completed his work properly
ir. Smith exalained that Mr. Freeman has obtained a letter from DFQE stating
that he has met all the requirements but to date the Planning Board has not re-
turned his bond and this is what he wants. He went on to e plain that he has
also ordered Mr. Rreenan to exterminate the rodents from the barn at 10 Bi-
Centennial Drive '1t the present time he has complied with this order, but the
people in the area are complaining about the swale. The swale was on the or-
iginal plans and the people knew that it was there when they bought the nronerty
now they don't like it and want it piped under ground, this is a very wet area.
The Board discussed this nrobTem and agreed that at the ^resent time there
was nothing the Board could do and 'they felt that the Planning Board held the
trump card by holding Mr. Freeman's bond until everything was done right
?.Tr Smith explained that he had a request for a. recommendation for public
sewer for the Concord Avenue area over by the Belmont line One person in this PUBLIC SEWER
area is having trouble and to install sewer here they would have to install a CON°( RD AVE.
pumping station He said he felt that he could not give this area +priority STRATHAM RD
at this time. He went on to say he was trying to get the Stretham Road area
on this years list because some of the systems there were in pretty rough
shape He said one house has the system in 3 different lots at the present
time.
Mr Smith explained that he had been working on a drainage problem in FREEMONT ST
the Freemont Street area : complaint had been received about a sewage odor DRAINAGE
but to date it has not been located where the problem was He explained that
he had used dye in about 20 houses so far but nothing has been found there
There are about 3 more houses to be done and hopefully the source will be
found.
There is also the same type of problem on Paul Revere Road in the drain-
age system of the Powers Village Subdivision, we will have to do a lot of in-
vestigative work in that area too
The application for a permit to keep one horse at 253 Lincoln Street was HORSE PERMIT
discussed by the Board The owner of this property is Renee '^esterman. This 253 LINCOLN ST
permit is denied by the Board because they have only 1 6 acres of land in-
stead of the required 2 acres of land, there is no grazing area and the stable
area is very limited. Also the abuttors are very close to this area.
Dr. Cosgrove explained that he had a call from a Jack Gardner regarding COMMUNITY
an ad hoc cuimuittee for the Lexington Community Health Committee. He said HEALTH COMM,
ho told Mr. Gardner to wait until Dr. Erdos who was our representative had
attended a meeting scheduled sometime this month.