HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-05-09 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING
MAY 9, 1983 '
The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held Monday, May 9, 1963 at
7 15 p.m in Room G-1 (Recreation Office) of the Town Office Building Members
present were Mr James W. Lambie, Chairman; Dr Michael S Erdos, Linda Roemer,
Ph D and George A Smith, Director of Public Health
NO SMOKING Mr Lambie, Chairman, said he thought we were going to get the no-smoking
BY-LAW by-law started quicker than was recorded in the April 1983 minutes As stated
in the April 1983 minutes, it does not become a by-law until after town meeting
finishes, the Town Clerk has 30 days to file it with the attorney general and
he, in turn, has up to 90 days to return it to the town clerk. In the mean-
time, the Board and the Director have agreed to draw up a draft of this by-law,
complete it, two weeks before the public hearing. In the process of drawing
up the by-law the penalties or fines will have to be discussed with the Town
Counsel Mr Smith said he thought after it was completed that he would have
it published two weeks before the public hearing and he will notify all restau-
rant owners Mr Smith feels that we could have the public hearing at the July
Board Meeting
Mr Smith told the Board that they would not have to worry about problems with
47 RIDGE RD the house at 47 Ridge Road anymore because it had burned to the ground on last
Saturday night
Mr Smith reported to the Board that he had received a letter from the W R.
Grace Company in regard to the chemicals that they have stored there at 55
Hayden Avenue They have invited the Board of Health and the Director to make
a visit to the facilities so that they can be aware of the chemicals they store
there The bulk of the hazardous waste stored is about 90% flammable solvents,
and the remaining 10% consists of corrosives (acids and bases) and halogenated
solvents They said there were two situations that could occur in the hazardous
waste storage area, one being a fire or explosion and the other would be a spill
resulting from a leaking drum They have a contingency plan that would handle
emergencies to deal with both of these events
The Board will make plans to visit the company on Wednesday, the 18th of May
of Friday, May 20th, 1983
Mr Smith had received a copy of a letter that the Versaille Restaurant had
written to the Town Manager requesting permission to put a sidewalk cafe out-
VERSAILLE side the restaurant (on the sidewalk) in front of the premises The Town Manager
RESTAURANT wanted "comments" from the Health Director Mr Smith told the Board that he
is not crazy about that idea at all. It would be right in line with the foot
traffic
It was decided that the Board cannot object to this as long as the food is served
properly but they would like it known that they are not keen on having food served
at an outside cafe
Mr Smith told the Board that the Town has reveived its yearly letter from the
RAILROAD railroad stating that they will be spraying along the railroad tracks with
SPRAYING herbicides. He said that the railroad will not be spraying in Lexington be-
cause they currently do not use the railroad tracks in this town The Board
really does not have control over this
The annual Health Fair will be held on Saturday, May 14th, 1983 up at the HEALTH
fire station There will be a hearing van all day Friday, May 13th in front FAIR
of Cary Hall as part of the Health Fair
David Henley, Superintendent of E MMC P will be there at the Fair on
Saturday and will bring a variety of different breeds of mosquitoes and will
answer any questions the residents have
The Worcester Health Department contacted Mr Smith in regard to having the
Lexington Health Office as a drop-off for mother's milk The Worcester Health
Department works in conjunction with the Hanneman Hospital in Worcester
Mr Smith said that the mother would bring in the milk and we would store
it in the freezer Someone would be around periodically to pick it up and
take it to Worcester
The Visiting Nurses have been juggling the elderly blood pressure clinics V N A
around They want to cut one hour out of the Greeley Clinic and also cut CLINICS
the East Lexington Clinic down to go there only when there is five weeks in
the month The nurses want to take the time away from these clinics so that
they can set one up at the new Countryside Village The nurses have been
finding resistance and hostility from the people that go to East Lexington
clinic because of these changes
Dr Roemer said the next time that the clinic in East Lexington will be held
she will personally go there and see just how many people attend it
Mr Smith told the Board that he had received a letter from a Mr Ericson PIPER RD
requesting a perc test and a deep-hole test (one day after the cutoff date PERE TEST
for doing this) because he wants to build a house on this pice of land on
Piper Road Mr Smith said that it is up quite a way and that there really
would be no problem putting in a septic system there The ground is still
wet enough to test properly Mr Ericson is requesting a variance to put
this system in because there is no sewer available at this time Mr Smith
said everything is 0 K
The Board agreed to grant a variance to go ahead with this septic system on
Piper Road
The Board has agreed that a letter should be sent to Linda Behar thanking LINDA
her for all the hard work and running around she has done for the Board in BEHAR
regard to mosquito control Linda represents the Parents Concerned About Apprecia-
EEE and has dedicated many hours and expertise to this project tion Ltr
The Board of Health and the Director all agreed that they are in favor of
holding another Hazardous Waste Day The article in the warrant is #51
Mr Smith said he has drafted a statement for the Board in this respect
Mr Smith also said that he had not heard from the League of Women Voters
as yet in regard to this The Town needs the backing and support of the
League of Women Voters and some residents
Mr Smith said that new bids have gone out for the rubbish collection con- HAZARDOUS
tract and perhaps they could tie this into hazardous waste day WASTE DAY
Mr Smith told the Board that he is going to write to the Department of
Public Health (State) requesting that they include Lexington and surrounding
areas in their mosquito surveillance program They will send the letter to
) 14
the new commissioner of Public Health after he takes office and also will send
a copy to the E.M.M C P
The Board discussed the article on mosquito control that the town meeting
had considered at their last Town Meeting Mr Smith said if they have to
re-consider - the whole article will have to be taken up again
Dr Erdos said he would like to mention that the Health Director from Winchester
had just resigned his job over there He said in the past they have had several
different Health Directors and he feels fortunate that Lexington has someone
like George Smith with his expertise and devotion and his length of service to
the Town He said with the number of projects that George has to deal with
(how he juggles them all, he does not know) Dr Erdos would like this to stand
as a testimonial of his abilities to do all of this and keep everything together
Dr Erdos said he would move that we do all we can to support George's activities
here and be sure that he is being compensated at least as high, if not higher
as surrounding communities We shculd see to it that George gets all the help
and support he needs to do his job
The Board was in complete agreement with everything, Dr Erdos said
Mr Smith said that he would like to express his appreciation and thanks for the
support he has received from the Board of Health through the years that he has
been with Lexington and feels that he is fortunate to have such an excellent Board
of Health to work with and for Mr Smith said it is an interesting place to work
Mr Lambie said that the Board of Health and the Town was lucky to have Mr Smith
as the Director and Dr Erdos and Dr Roemer agreed
Next meeting will be on June 13th, 1983
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May 9, 1983 Meeting
The following permits were signed by the Board
Animal Permits
Robert & Marie Rollins Doran's Greenhouses, Inc
205 Grove St 150 East St
James Cosgrove Frank Scolaro, Jr
307 Wood Street 5 Bruce Rd
Gerald R Mimno John D Chiesa, Jr
83 Pleasant St 44 Adams St
Vending Machine Facility Temporary Food Establishment Permits
Woburn Vending at Hewlett-Packard Robert Renna - Honeywell Road Race
32 Hartwell Ave Road Race Route
Canteen Corp at Raytheon Corp Pewter Pot - Discovery Day
45 Hartwell Ave 1710 Mass Ave
Retail Food Establishments Retail Food Establishments - Continued
Raytheon Lab Wild Acre Inn
131 Spring St 50 Percy Road
Lex Racquet & Swim Club Howard Johnson's Restaurant
475 Bedford St Route 128 North
Retail Food Permits
Mother Earth
10 Muzzey St
Swimming Pool Permits
Drummer Boy Homes Association
13 Drummer Boy Way
Lexington Racquet & Swim Club (swimming & wading pools) and Jacuzzi Whirlpool Permit)
475 Bedford St
Lexington, Mass 02173
Sun Valley Association, Inc
14 Fairlawn Lane
Pleasant Brook Pool (Swimming h Wading Pools)
21A Mason St
Peacock Farms Association (swimming & wading pools)
Peacock Farm Rd