HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-09-19 Board of Health MinutesO
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Meeting Minutes
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Board of Health
Date: -2017-09-19
Building: Reading Town Hall
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: General Business
Attendees: Members - Present:
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Berger Room
Session: Open Session
Version:
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11 OCT 23.P 47 021
John Costigan, Kevin Sexton, Heidi Pfeifer, Nancy Docktor, Associate
Members - Not Present:
others- Present:
Dan Ensminger, Board of Selectmen Liaison, Jean Delios, Assistant Town
Manager, Mary Ellen O'Neill, Wanda Lopez
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Darlene Foley
Topics of Discussion:
Board of Health meeting came. to order at .5.30 pm on September 19, in the Berger -Room of
Reading Town Hall.
Minutes
The minutes of August 16, 2017 were tabled until the next meeting.
The minutes of September 6, 2,017 were presented. Motion was made by Sexton to accept
the minutes as amended; motion seconded by Pfeifer. Motion passed 3:0.
Ensminger inquired if the open session meeting minutes of August 8th and August 15th had
been approved. If approved they will be posted to the website.
Health Report
Costigan inquired if the inspection reports relating to the complaints at Bunrattys, Reading
Learning Center and Wilson Street were available as indicated on the monthly report
provided by Laura Vlasuk. Delios did not have the reports in question but would have Laura
Vlasuk follow up with the board members and provide them as soon as possible.
Costigan inquired about the meeting with Walmart Health & Wellness Group relating to flu
clinic participation and if that was in conjunction with.the senior center or being run through
them or the health division. Delios explained.that the town was working in collaboration .
with North Reading, basically doing something similar to what they do. The draft of a .flyer
with clinic details had not been finished.. Reading residents are able to attend a flu clinic
scheduled for Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 11am to fpm at Walmart in North Reading
and Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at the Coolidge Middle School from 4=7pm. Costigan
inquired if the clinic at Coolidge would be with the public health nurse administering the
shots. Docktor mentioned the services of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) could be
available and could provide Costigan with the contact information. Costigan. will contact the
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public health nurse to see what arrangements had been made and if necessary contact
Dave Nichols to request the services of the MRC at the October 24th clinic. Other clinics .will
be scheduled depending upon the. response.
Pesticide Regulations
There was discussion of the proposed pesticide regulations and the scheduling of a meeting
with the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and a public educational forum to.be held next month to
get input from citizens.. Ensminger will contact Chairman John Jarema-aboutscheduling
the meeting with the BOS. The forum may be scheduled for October 18th in conjunction
with the regular BOH meeting if possible.
The meeting format was discussed.. The regulations will be available and a suggestion was
given by,Mary Ellen O'Neill to provide presentation with a�brief summary of the
regulations and what their intent is, what the town currently does and what is being .
.proposed; provide. some background information of the Massachusetts State Law and how
the proposed regulation protects families and children.
Ensminger asked if this meeting would be portrayed as getting information to recommend to
the BOS for guidelines they would put in place for tree lawns and that kind of thing; that
would be the framework for presenting since town council has ruled you don't per se have
jurisdiction. Costigan asked if the BOS would want to take over the regulatory authority to
which Ensminger replied yes they would be attentive and listening to comments.
Docktor will provide the state regulations with regard to. parks, schools and day care
facilities. Sexton inquired if this was already in place for areas around town hall, other town
buildings, schools and tree lawns. Docktor responded it was just for tree lawns and the
public property portion of sidewalks. The town does not use pesticides unless for a very
specific infestation. Sexton had a question about ingestion in relation to skin contact; if skin
contact was absorption or through skin to mouth contact. Docktor replied it could actually
be both, particularly with children.
Costigan will provide a draft copy of the regulations to be put on the website with a link to
the meeting notice. Docktor discussed how other communities have handouts that perhaps
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thtown could utilize and attach to a public works newsletter to provide educational
information to the residents. Pfeifer inquired how residents could. dispose of hazardous
waste materials like pesticides. A hazardous waste disposal day was.scheduled for
September 23 in conjunction with the Town of Wakefield and Reading provides one annually
as well. Docktor will reach- out to the University of Lowell see if someone there could
participate at the public hearing to present the facts with an unbiased opinion.
Pfeifer asked if Reading currently had any pesticide regulations. Costigan stated there were
only state regulations; however, board of health regulations could be more stringent than
the state, they just could not conflict with them. These regulations were modeled after
those of Marblehead which were implemented about twenty years ago. Pfeifer asked how
the regulation would impact landscaping companies; Docktor replied it should not have any
impact because those companies have told us they know -they are not supposed to treat
public lands unless they have permission from the town.
O'Neill inquired about the best way to publicize the public hearing other than the usual
posting in the Reading Chronicle. ,The Reading Community Parents Network was mentioned
as a source of advertisement. Delios mentioned the Administrative Services Department
could assist with posting if the Board wanted, or the bi-weekly notes with a link to the
proposed regulation and the Ombudsman, Matt Kraunelis could post to various other sites.
The wording of the meeting notice was developed. Costigan will provide Delios with that
-information. Flyers will be handed out at the hearing. Pfeifer willmake a poster and send
.to Vlasuk to forward to board members.
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DPH- Fol.low-Up
There was a short discussion regarding the unsigned camp inspections. Delios stated that
she and Bob Bracey were following up on that; Bracey was doing the necessary follow up.
Docktor stated the Department of Public Health (DPH) had advised them that town council
should write up an affidavit. Delios stated she thought there was more than one way to
deal with that and that is what Bracey was working on. Docktor asked if Bracey could come
back and inform the Board as that is what DPH was telling them to do in order to comply
with their regulations. Delios replied.town council has been looking at this and thought that
between town council and Bracey they had a solution. Docktor asked if she knew what the
solution was as yet but Delios did not have the information with her.
Opiates
Discussion continued regarding a recent Boston Globe article presented -by Docktor where
Bridgewater State University provided. a public access program in regard to Narcan. The.
Board had previously discussed the. idea of.possibly joining with RCASA to sponsor a
community wide Narcan training. Docktor had provided the name of a pharmacist who does
this for free, goes to different clinics and communities to provide training for administering
Narcan. Sexton inquired who the training was for. The training would be open to the
public. Costigan would like to speak with some business people about the possibility of
having one or more employees trained in the administration of Narcan. Erica McNamara of
RCASA will be meeting with some community business people in the area and will bring that
subject up.. She had noted that additional flyers with overdose information needed to be
put up in Reading; a few had been put up earlier in the year but additional could be placed .
in restrooms of bars or restaurants. Erica will be invited to attend a BOH meeting and
provide an update of what she has been doing.
Pfeifer had gone to a Rite Aid in Reading to try to obtain Narcan nasal spray and was told by
the pharmacist that they didn't have it and recommended Narcan in an injectable form.
Costigan stated there is an auto -injector, similar to that of an epi -pen but the nasal spray is
what is most commonly used.
The Board will further research the issue of perhaps sponsoring training in .conjunction with
RCASA and communicate with Police and. Fire Departments.
Other
There was discussion regarding imrnunizations for pneumonia for the adult population.
Ensminger asked if Walmart had shown any interest in pneumonia shots for those over 65;
Costigan replied he imagined they have. Costigan believed about 60% of those overage 65
have been immunized but there are two different strains available now which people may,
not be aware of. It is recommended that people be immunized with both. -One is newer
than the other one which has been around for a while and many have received that.. It
would be important to get both. Ensminger mentioned that if you receive the immunization
at the time of an annual exam which is covered under a health plan; it may be covered.
Costigan stated Medicare will cover both vaccines if they are given a year apart for those
over 65.
Pfeifer inquired about the Shingles vaccine for those over the age of 60. That vaccine has
been very effective, lessens the severity and has proven to be beneficial for those over 60
years of age. Costigan will write an article about the immunizations. Docktor mentioned a
future article could be written on gambling as Keno is now available in town and keep
abreast of that in talking about addictions. For every dollar the State brings in from
gambling, they lose $2 for social services. Articles will continue to be submitted to the
Ombudsman before publication.
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Docktor distributed a packet to board members that was also being mailed _to the
Selectmen; no discussion was given.
Next meeting tentatively scheduled for October 18, 2017.
Meeting adjourned at 6:56 pm.
Materials Distributed:
Draft Minutes of August 16, 2017
Draft Minutes of September 6, 2017
Health Agent Report — August
Packet from Nancy Docktor
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