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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-12-BOH-min LEXINGTON BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, June 12, 2019 7:00 P.M. Town Office Building Parker Room, (Lower level) 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02420 Board of Health Members in Attendance: Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD, Sharon MacKenzie R.N., CCM, Burt Perlmutter, M.D., John J. Flynn, David Geller, M.D. Office of Public Health Attendees: Kari Sasportas, Public Health Director Kammy Demello, Public Health Agent Francis Dagle, Public Health Assistant Speakers: Alberto Gala, GSA Inc. Natalie Cohen, LPS Green Team Kay Chai, Dabin Restaurant Documents: Community Health Report Proposed 2019 Town of Lexington Flu Clinic Schedule Draft Order to Attend BOH Meeting on June 121h—Dabin Restaurant, Correspondence Timeline of Violations —Dabin Restaurant Food Establishment Inspection Report, Dabin Restaurant Food Consultants/Trainers, document 67 Turning Mill Road Exemption request, document Variance Request—Vistors Center, document rDNA update, document Emergency Preparedness Report Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Minutes of May 15, 2019 were reviewed. In a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes were approved with revisions. The board reviewed the Community Health Report; The town was awarded a 3 year implementation grant for approximately $60,000 to complete the proposed work of the Lexington Mental Health and Wellness Task Force. The Task Force has divided into the following four advisory groups to move forward on the work plan: Identification & Research, Prevention, Intervention, and Post-intervention. The Lexington Health Director is the lead on the Identification & Research advisory group and also sits on the Mental Health and Wellness Task Force Steering Committee. As one of the first deliverables for the Identification & Research advisory group,the Health Director is drafting a scope of work for a data consultant to be hired as a part time subcontractor on the grant. The available budget for this subcontractor is approximately 15K over the 3 years. The Office of Public Health continues to work towards our goal of hosting a summer catch-up immunization clinic for prospective LPS students needing immunizations required for school entry. Office of Public Health is working with the MDPH Immunizations Program, Dr. David Geller, and Public Schools Health staff for a potential clinic date of Tuesday, August 201h On June 51h, Office of Public Health staff hosted a Medical Waste Drop off event in collaboration with United Medical Waste. 66 residents attended and fourteen boxes of medical waste were collected. Lexington Office of Public Health will be staffing the upcoming Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on June 15''. Environmental Health report was reviewed and the following cases were discussed; Love at First Bite; Had 3 critical and 2 non-critical violations. Sanyo Fine Asian Cuisine; Had 6 critical and 2 non-critical violations. Dabin Restaurant; The Lexington Board of Health ordered Dabin Restaurant owner, Ms. Kyung Chai, to attend the BOH meeting scheduled for June 12''. This request was based on routine food inspections done, a report of a food borne illness complaint, and onsite inspections performed by the Health Director and Health Agent. The Lexington Office of Public Health has noticed a pattern of repeat violations of the food code that represent critical factors for foodborne illness. The most recent inspections were prompted by a laboratory confirmed case of foodborne illness in a person that reported food history that included eating at Dabin Restaurant. After some discussion, Burt Perlmutter, M.D., proposed a motion that stated, "Based on the following factors, including 1) a history of repeat food code violations pertaining to critical risk factors associated with food borne illness, 2) a notification from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Epidemiology Program on 5123119 of a case of laboratory confirmed salmonella whose reported food history during the illness incubation period(48 hours prior to symptoms) includes consumption of sashimi and salmon roe at Dabin, and 3) results of the environmental investigation conducted on 616119 and 617119 in follow up to the case report that revealed several repeat food code violations pertaining to critical risk factors associated with food borne illness, the Lexington Board of Health orders the owner ofDabin Restaurant to hire an approved independent food safety consultant to train all staff on required food safety principles and regulatory requirements as well as conduct routine food safety inspections each month, with a report back to the Board, until the Board is satisfied with the progress. In addition, Dabin must work with an approved food safety consultant, for a minimum of 3 months, to update the sushi rice acidification HACCP plan for Board Approval. The proposed independent consultant is subject to Board of Health Approval. The Lexington Office ofPublic Health can provide a list of available food safety consultants but does not provide recommendations for one consultant over another. Dabin must hire an approved food safety consultant by end of business day on June 13, 2019, and all staff must complete a mandatory food safety training conducted by the consultant and report back to the Board of Health in two weeks with an update. " Sharon MacKenzie R.N., CCM, seconded the motion. All were in favor. Septic Variance Request—67 Turning Mill Road; Alberta Gala, Gala Simon Associates Inc, met with the board to request a variance from Lexington Board of Health Article XII 155-84. New on- site sewage disposal systems prohibited. After some discussion, Sharon MacKenzie R.N., CCM, proposed a motion that stated, "The Lexington Board ofHealth authorizes the Office ofPublic Health staff to review proposed septic system design plans in accordance with 310 CMR 15.000 (Title V) requirements. Given the proximity of wetlands to the property, the proposed septic design will also need to be reviewed by the Conservation Commission. Following this process, the Board will review the recommendations of the Office ofPublic Health and the Conservation Commission before final approval may be granted. "Burt Perlmutter, M.D., seconded the motion. All were in favor. Lexington Visitor's Center - Variance from the state plumbing code request, approved by Lexington plumbing inspector, now under consideration for review by the Lexington Board of Health. After some discussion, Burt Perlmutter, M.D., proposed a motion that stated, "The Lexington Board ofHealth hereby grants a variance from 248 CMR 10.10(18)(i)1 for Use Group A-3 in accordance with the conditions submitted for review. "Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD, seconded the motion. All were in favor rDNA update; The Lexington Office of Public Health's rDNA consultant, Rebecca Caruso, is conducting routine inspections during the month of June 2019 of the approximately 20 companies in Lexington. Once the inspections are complete, Ms. Caruso will submit final inspection reports and a summary report with recommendations for review. Communication from the public; Natalie Cohen, LPS Green Team, requested to speak briefly about a food recovery program. Ms. Cohen will be meeting with the Health Director to review the proposed plan for the food recovery program The Emergency Preparedness report was reviewed and the following topics were discussed; The Health Director and Public Health Nurse attended this workshop, held in Natick, MA, on June 6, 2019. The workshop discussion and exercises focused on the development of templates to be customized by each city and town in the region in order to update local public health Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS)plans relative to six planning considerations for Emerging Infectious Disease (EID). The six planning considerations consist of the following: EID surveillance, risk communication, vaccine management, personal protective equipment, behavioral health, and critical staff dispensing. Since the early 2000s, local health departments have been tasked with developing and maintaining EDS plans to address a hypothetical anthrax scenario requiring mass distribution of antibiotics. Hence, most local EDS plans, including Lexington's, will need to be updated with vaccine dispensing protocols, including the six EID planning considerations listed above. The Lexington Office of Public Health will work with the regional planners to update our EDS plan over the course of the next budget year. BPI Community (Town) Work Plan Deliverables - During BP 1, each city and town in the region will be able to choose one of two options for deliverables. Option 1 is to complete three (3) Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) drills, which would be identical to drill requirements in previous years (i.e., staff notification call-down, site activation call-down, and facility set-up). Option 2 is a new alternative, and would require a holding a table-top (TTX) drill focused on testing a community Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS)plan to include newly developed emerging infectious disease components (EID) and an after action report and improvement plan (AARAP). Technical assistance will be available from the region for communities that choose option 2. Budget Period 1 (BPI) for fiscal year (FY) 2020 begins on July 1, 2019. Of note, local jurisdictions have a new option for fulfilling drill deliverables in BPI, i.e., participating in a sub- regional table top exercise (TTX) designed to test recent updates to EDS plans with EID considerations. Lexington Office of Public Health plans to opt in to this sub-regional TTX with details to be determined within the first quarter of BPI by regional planners. Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD, motioned that the meeting be adjourned and John J. Flynn seconded. All were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM. It was noted that the next meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.