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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-25 Board of Health Minutes � oraevo Town of Reading RECEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK .a READING, mgIA r • y':wmxaow Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2919 MAY - I PM 4: 16 Board of Health Date: 2019-02-25 Time: 6:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: Public Hearing Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Kevin M. Sexton- Chair Emmy Dove- Vice Chair Eleanor Tate Shonkoff- Member Lara Romanowski- Associate Members - Not Present: Heidi Pfeifer- Associate Others Present: Jean Delos- Assistant Town Manager Laura Vlasuk- Health Agent • Andy Friedmann- Select Board Liason Gina Snyder- Resident Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Kammy Demello Topics of Discussion: 6:02 pm Sexton opened the meeting. Public Hearing: Sexton opened the discussion up to the public. Resident Gina Snyder was present and Sexton asked her if she had any comments. Snyder expressed Interest in the discussion on pesticides that would come up later in the meeting, and the resident agreed that she is willing to wait to discuss that specific topic later In the meeting. Friedmann addressed the email he sent Sexton. Sexton acknowledged the email and stated he is aware that the Board of Health is not on the agenda at the Select Board meeting tomorrow night (2/26/19). The Select Board agenda for 2/26/19 includes an agenda item to discuss the BOH. Sexton asked Friedmann for more clarification on the agenda item. Friedmann was under the impression that the BOH was not going to have the pesticide regulations completed in time for the Select Board meeting tomorrow. Sexton mentioned that the BOH could have been ready for tomorrow night's meeting as far as the pesticides regulation document is concerned, but Sexton was referring to Freidmann bringing up the topic of inspections, fines, and the reports sent to the Select Board. Friedmann went on to repeat that the Town Manager was unsure of whether or not the BOH would have this • document ready by tomorrow. Sexton stated that he is aware of this, and that the document is going to be updated during today's meeting, but Sexton is unsure of whether or not the Town Counsel will have a chance to read the document and have It approved to be discussed at the Select Board tomorrow night. Page I 1 Friedman shared a concern with the board about data on the fines issued from the Health Division. Friedmann stated that in prior years fines were Issued to businesses that had a violation, but now he has noticed fines are not being issued to businesses. Sexton confirmed • that the Health Division has had a philosophy change since the last Health Agent. Friedman shared that he has had experience on the board with many different Health Agents and the approach is the same that was described by Sexton in his email, so Friedmann is unsure of why there is a discrepancy between the last 2 years compared to the 8 years prior to that. Sexton questioned why Friedmann is looking Into this matter in the first place. Friedmann shared that his concern is that since 2009, restaurants did not have a 100% correction rate on the violations, and if it was critical enough they would receive a small fine. Friedmann stated that it is difficult to understand that the BOH would go from not having a 100% compliance rate after the first inspection, to then having a 100% compliance rate on re- inspections over the last 2 years. Sexton asked Vlasuk to explain her inspection process and shared that he feels he believes Vlasuk has been getting people to be more compliant. Vlasuk shared that there have been no issues, and if restaurants have a violation they always get them corrected within the allotted time per the food code. Vlasuk shared that she believes there have been years between 2009 and now where the Health Agents were not issuing fines to restaurants. Dove stated that there are 3 years total where fines were not issued by the Health Agent. Vlasuk shared that Dove received the information via a formal public records request to the Town Clerk. Friedmann shares that this is public Information and is on the town's website. Freidmann, Dove, and Shonkoff took time to search for the document on their laptops. Dove shares that the reason this was brought up in the first place is because she heard from a Select Board meeting In December that there had been no real violations worth bringing to the BOH's attention in the last year. Dove also shared that she took the time to review prior months meeting minutes, so it struck her as being odd that there were no fines issued. It was when Dove then filed a public records request with the Town Clerk regarding the history • of fines, she noticed there were no fines issued within the last 2 years. Dove shared that she obtained these results right after the December 17,2018 BOH meeting, and that she spent some time thinking about whether or not the document listing the fines that have been Issued actually told her anything or not. Dove shared that the most Important things to take away from this document is that inspections are being completed, and that critical violations are being corrected. Dove stated that she Is aware that all Health Agents operate differently, but wanted to be able to compare any noticeable changes. She asked for the last 3 years' worth of inspection data, meaning she wanted to know what violations were found, were they corrected, and were any of them repeat violations. Dove reports that the information is listed on paper documents which are public records that require a time consuming search. Dove feels that because she has questions which may not actually be anything, that she feels we should work on finding a way to have this information readily available to keep track of things that way she will know what the Health Division is finding. Dove also mentions that having this document available electronically for the public would be beneficial as well. Sexton asked Vlasuk for clarification on the system the Health Division currently has set in place to document and keep track of violations from food establishment inspections. Vlasuk stated that violations are tracked through the Town Clerk. Shonkoff asked if we track the instances when a violation has been brought to our attention and we take the educational approach, or only track fines. Dove shared that this document strategy for keeping track of Inspections does not have enough Information that Dove would like to see on this type of tracking document. Dove stated that she feels it would be better to discuss what the board as a team would like to see on this type of tracking document during tonight's meeting. Sexton mentions that it was previously discussed that during live meetings the board would • not broadcast the violations of businesses because It Is hard to determine if they are all factual complaints. Vlasuk shared that Dove requested inspection reports and Dove admitted that she may not have been clear about the type of information she was seeking from Vlasuk. Dove stated Page 1 2 being happy that Vlasuk is one of the only Health Agents to complete such a detailed document, and that Vlasuk has changed the document several times at the Boards request however, she was looking for it to be expanded by showing even more Information • pertaining to health inspections. Sexton asked Dove for clarification as to what additional Information Dove would like to see on the document. Dove stated she would like to see all the violations found to be listed, the name of the business, the address of the business, date of inspection, violations, separate violations into critical and other because she feels they should not have equal weights, and an annotation as to whether they are repeat violations, and when the re-inspection is scheduled, or not. Romanowski asked what the end goal of this document would be. Dove shared that this updated document would give the board more transparency. Friedman shared that the overall goal of the board is to protect public health and this updated document will be away for the board to have the information readily available in case the state requests documents pertaining to work that the board or the Health Division has conducted. Friedmann stated that for prior years, violations were brought to the BOH meetings and they found that helpful because then they were able to share with people that the Health Division is looking out for these violations, and when there is an Issue the Health Division ensures that the Issue is resolved. Sexton reports that Vlasuk has been updating the board during BOH meetings. Sexton also shared that he disagrees with this information being discussed during meeting times, as he feels that inspections and fines are handled by staff. Sexton also mentioned that he feels Vlasuk's approach to conducting inspections through education, rather than just ticketing is a resourceful tactic, as this will help to achieve the overall goal of educating businesses to protect public health within the community. Dove states that although she feels educating the businesses is very important, she feels there should be both, the educating of businesses, as well as fining them for having violations. Sexton states that of course there can be the education piece along with issuing • fines to businesses, but that he would prefer it if this task didn't have to bog down Vlasuk and take away from her day to day tasks. Friedmann explained that through his experience, businesses that had a violation and did not correct it during the re-Inspection were given a fine for violations that could potentially cause foodborne illness. Friedmann also stated that he received information from Vlasuk that when she notes a violation and goes back for the re-inspection and the violation is corrected. Friedmann stated that he found this hard to believe. Friedmann shared that he feels he has an obligation when he sees something like this and he finds it worrisome and was hoping the BOH will take a look at this. A discussion carried out between Sexton, Friedmann, and Dove regarding the reason why this issue had been brought up in the first place, and that it may not ' have been appropriate to discuss during this meeting. Sexton shared that moving forward if this topic needs to be discussed, then it should be a topic on the agenda. Sexton stated that he thought it's a testament to Vlasuk doing her job the first time. He also stated that he thought we're micromanaging this a bit, and would like to say it publicly, Vlasuk has had a rough go of it coming into this town. Sexton said It seemed to him like it's going down a bad path. Sexton cautioned Friedmann that this may not be appropriate coming from a Select Board member and expressed his concern. Dove stated, "I went down this path." Sexton stated, "And so you brought him with you?" Friedmann stated, "I see public records request, and the information came up and caught my eye." Sexton stated, "What do you mean you see public records requests? I never saw public records requests when I was on the Select Board." Friedmann stated, "You have to ask, you know, I called the town Clerk and asked if there were any public records requests for the BOH. I don't want to appear to be creating a lynch mob by any means." Sexton stated, "I feel like that's • a little bit of a strong word, but I feel like this is against our Health Agent who is our representative." Friedmann stated, "I really have an obligation when I see something like this that maybe we need to tweak the, I mean, this philosophy, I'll be honest I find worrisome, and I don't want to tell you guys what to do. I was hoping that maybe you'd take a look at it and say well, have the Board have more information. Stuff like that." Page 1 3 Sexton stated, "I would say, if we want to look at this as a Board, then that is a great idea. Having data put down that we can actually see and quantify is great. We've just back into this instead of coming straight at It. In the future if any of us have an Idea, including the • Select Board, we should talk about it and add it to the agenda." Resident Gina Snyder from 11 laden Terrace states that she has found it immensely helpful in other towns to see the letter grading on the window of the restaurants. Snyder also asked about the grease trap information presented on the document that Vlasuk provided to Dove. Vlasuk provided clarification to Snyder that the grease trap information is just a way for her to keep track of what businesses use what trap company. Shonkoff asked Sexton if there should be a discussion during the next meeting regarding how a document will be set up to show the board that the inspections are being completed, along with the additional information the board would like to see on the document. Sexton stated that there can be a discussion next BOH meeting to go over how the document will be set up for keeping track of inspections. Health Agent Report: Vlasuk reported on the month of January and stated that 12 out of 131 food establishments were inspected, and an additional 156 inspections were completed for re-Inspections, complaints, animal Inspections, and dumpsters. There have been no new flu shots administered to residents and no new activity in Maven to discuss. Pesticide Regulations in Tree Lawn: Sexton explained that the easiest way to complete the Pesticide Regulations in Tree Lawns would be to work on it during tonight's meeting. Sexton mentioned that the only necessary changes to the regulations are to be made under the fines and complaints sections. Dove and Sexton had a conversation regarding the structure of the changes for section 7.and 8 of • the regulations. Sexton shared that the goal of modifying the regulation is because as it stands, the regulation is stating that a fee will be given to the homeowner for a first offense. The changes will state that the first offense would be in the form of educating the homeowner, and then subsequent offenses would be a fine. Sexton reiterated that the first offense would be to give the homeowner a copy of the regulations as an educational approach, but if the home owner admitted to using the chemicals, the subsequent offense would lead to a fine. Dellos made the suggestion to simplify the regulations and consolidate complaints and violations under enforcement. A discussion continued amongst board members regarding the wording of the changes in the regulations. The consensus was that after the first written complaint, the Health Agent will determine if an investigation is necessary. Vlasuk stated that the "Investigation" is only contacting home owners and asking them directly. Dove agreed and added that Vlasuk needed to maintain a spreadsheet with names and addresses. Dellos stated she would facilitate Town Council review. Motion made by Sexton to send updated regulations to Town Counsel for review. All in favor 3-0-0. Rodent Information on Select Board Website: Sexton introduced the topic from last BOH meeting regarding rodent Information that was listed on the Select Board webpage, and explained that everyone felt it would be better to see the Information on the BOH webpage. Sexton reports that it should be easy to move the information from one board's webpage to another. Minutes The BOH minutes from January 251h, 2019 were discussed. A motion to approve was made by Sexton, seconded by.Shonkoff. Motion carries 3-0-0. • Adiournment A motion to adjourn was made by Sexton, seconded by Shonkoff. Motion carries, 3-0-0. The BOH Meeting was adjourned at 7:09pm. Page 1 4