HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-01-11 4'00
Board of Health Meeting
January 11, 1934
The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held on Wednesday, January
11, 1954, at 7 15 p m in RoomG-25 (Health Department Office) of theTown Office
Building I
Members present were Mr James I Lambie, Chairman; Dr Linda Roemer,
George Smith, Jr , Health Director; and Mrs Deborah J Halko, Sanitarian
Minutes of the December Board meeting were accepted as read with the cor-
rection of a couple of mispelled words
•'1t 7 30 p m Mrs Linda Behar, resident, came before the Board to discuss
mosquito control
Mr Smith started by saying that they have not 'received any word from Dr
Grady as yet
Mrs Behar's concern is about pesticides used routinely if there is not a
threat of EEE she asked if the Board plans to larviciding yearly
Mr Lambie said that larviciding does not help with mosquito control
I Dr Roemer said we have to keep population of mosquitoes down to keep BEE
low We think larviciding keeps down nuisance mosquitoes also
Mrs Behar does not want " nuisance mosquito " control She is afraid con-
tinued spraying of chemicals will get into the ground water I Mr Lambie said that the risk of BEE has to be evaluated We wouldn' t do
anything if we thaught there wasn't a risk 4e don't know yet how much of a risk
there will be The weather has a lot to do with it and it id hard to know this
ahead of time
Dr Roemer said that we have to have the money ready for an emergancy
Mrs Behar wondered if the men doing the water management in the winter
months could get a feeling of how the mosquito population is going
The Board said " absolutely "
Mr Lambie asked Mrs Behar if she objected to the use of Methoxychlor
She said she does not object to it if it is not used in the recreation areas
Mrs Behar's concern was basically the continued use of chemicals yearly if
there is not a threat of BEE Mrs Behar said if the Board could set forth a
policy to the Board of Selectmen stating what they will do in a " dry "year and
this is the plan for the years that things get worse
The Board feels that this coming summer could follow the cycle and be a summer
to worry about and then in other years ahead it could be just routine They feel
if this year is the year when EEE is a real threat again, a mosquito control program I
should be ready
407
After further discussion Mrs Behar thanked the Board and retired
Mrs Debbie Halco reported to the Board of Health that she had attended SANITARIAN
dog hearings She also went to a " Magistrates Hearing " at the Concord Court REPORT
in regard to a Selectmen's order " to have a resident remove their dog out of
town "
Mrs Halko also attended a " Bulk Food Guidlines Seminar " and she went
to a seminar on "Pests" (roaches,ticks, etc ) runby the Cooperative Extension
Service
Mrs IIalco has also inspected some of the nursing homes in town and has
started to inspect the inplant-cafeterias She is checking out the cafeterias
for "Ido Smoking"sections and she has found that some have not complied with the
by-law as yet
Mr Smith received a xerox copy of a letter about "dinning Farm but it PWINNING
couldn't be read The xerox copy was poor Nothing has happened over there so far FARM
Winning Farm has appealed the decision
Mr Smith told the Board that the Town Manager sent Mrs Sanford (complaint TODD
in regard to her neighbors wood stove) a letter stating that everything with the STOVES
neighbor's stove was legal
Mr Smith said he had discussed at the last Board Meeting the lot on Piper PIPER RD
Road He said that he just as soon not have them build on this lot Mr Smith
said that they want to build a four bedroom house that he feels is too big for
the size of the lot
Mr Smith told the 3oard he has written to the Board of Appeals pointing
out the problems with putting a system on the lot
Dr Roemer said to make it very explicit as to what Mr Smith wants for a
system and suggest the house is too large for this lot becuse of having to put in
a septic system
Mr Smith said he is concerned that a lot that size may not adequatly ac-
comodate a large house with a septic system
Mr Lambie asked if they could put a smaller house with a septic system on
this lot
Mr Smith said he thinks so but it is always a risk with a septic system
Mr Smitn told the Board that a Ir Litant of 5 Douglas Rd came into the
office concerned about Cancer in his area because his wife had hied of breast
cancer He had done a survey and found there seems to be quite a few cases of
cancer in the area (That area is close to the Ioburn line) Mr Litant tninks
it is environmentally related
Mr Smith has talked to D E Q E and also to Jerry Parker of the State Health
Department Mr Parker said to send in statistics, etc and he will have it
studied
Dr Roemer explained that the mortality rate(age woman has child relates to
breast cancer)
408
"1r Smith said he told Mr Litant he would have to discuss this with
the Board of Health
Mr Lambie said that the Boarn should look into this cancer survey
and Dr Roemer agreed
SANITARIAN The Board was given a copy of a survey prepared by Susan Adler's office
POSITI07 in regard to the Sanitarian's permanent part time position Ms Adler's
SURVEY office checked into other towns comparable to Lexington
THE POOL Mr Smith briefly discussed the town pool and the safety equipment dIe
also stated tnat the Fire Department will be having weekly sessions on CPR
that pool personnel could attend
Mr Smith is currently meeting with Recreation personnel in regard to
the number of swimmers allowed in for each pool, etc
Dr Doemer feels there also should he some kind policy that parents cannot
just dump their young children there and leave She said parents are still res-
ponsible for their own child
After further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 9 30 p.m
The following permits were signed by the Board
Food Service Establishments
Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Store Carey's Catch
1729 Mass Ave 46 Mass Ave
Sheraton-Lexington Motor Inn Lexington United
727 Matterr Rd, Methodist Church
2600 Mass Ave
Dunkin Donuts
373 Waltham St Data Recources In-Plant
Cafeteria
Temple, Barker & Sloan, Inc 24 Hartwell Ave
33 Hayden Ave
Varian Vacuums Food Service
Belco Vending at Unitrode Corp 121 Ilartwell Ave
5 Forbes Rd
Servomation Cor for
R Grace Co (vending) Ginn & Co (vending)
53 Hayden Ave 191 Spring St