HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-21 Board of Health Minutes p \ Town of Reading
as Meeting Minutes RECEIVED
o�'
Fr° TOWN CLERK
' <^ READING, MA.
Board - Committee - Commission - Council: V
Board of Health 2019 JUN 20 PM 4: 16
Date: 2019-05-21 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session:
Purpose: Public Hearing Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Kevin Sextion
Emmy Dove
Eleanor Shonkoff
Lara Rommowski
Heidi Pfiefer
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Laura Vlasuk, Jean Delios, Andy Friedman, Virginia Adams, Scott Gentile, Sal
Gentile, Paul Scharr
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Kristen Grover
Topics of Discussion:
Public Discussion
Paul Scharr, Mount Vernon Street, raised the subject of the Town hiring a consultant and offered
his opinion on how to handle the issue of an inspection tracking spreadsheet. He noted the
concern for publishing business information. He offered to present a design the Board could use
and informed the Board of his background in Operations. Sexton suggested to present his
Proposal at the meeting in June.
Chair Report
Sexton stated he attended the RCASA meeting and suggested to have their attendance at a BOB
meeting to discuss data points. Shonkoff inquired about having their vaping campaign linked to
the BOII website.
Health Agent Report
Vlasuk reported 36 food inspections and reinspections,2 septic abandonments, 4 complaints and
dumpsters were inspected and corrected, and 4 animal inspections were conducted. She noted no
( flu shots were administered. She noted MAVEN cited 3 cases of loose stool, 15 flu cases,
adding that number of flu cases was substantially lower than last month, and I case of
chickenpox.
Page I 1
Vlasuk stated all tobacco inspections and compliance checks were conducted by Maureen Busby
with no violations. Vlasuk informed the Board that Kammy Demello resigned effective May 2
and the Town has started the procedure of reposting for the position. Sexton asked how long that
t takes. Vlasuk stated Human Resources posts the position. Delios added that it is unknown what
` the Town will get for responses but stated there are two new hires in the Public Services
Department which is a good sign.
Dove asked Vlasuk to include numbers in her report she emails to the Board. Vlasuk asked for
confirmation that Dove wants her to send the information in an email and repeat the same
information at the meeting, such as like what she just read in her report.
Friedman said he would like to follow up on something from February and the drop off in fines
from the last couple years. He stated the BOH needs documentation to demonstrate that the
Health regulations are being met. Sexton commented that this was a good segue into the next
topic of the consultant. He explained the goal of hiring the consultant, the master plan, and the
objective of Board authority as well as obligations to the State. Sexton stated there is no reason
they can't modify what was done in the past. Shonkoff commented that she met with Vlasuk &
Delios to look at inspection reports and that it was helpful to see what information is gathered to
make a decision about what they want to be accessible. Freidman stated he wanted to be clear
about what information is made accessible, noting it is public information and should all be
accessible.
Consultant update
Delios stated she reached out to Peg Salladay and teamed she is no longer a consultant but is
now employed by Lynnfield. She discussed a referral of a contact,the scope of services in the
4W packet, creating a path forward for the Board and staff, and the goal of clarifying roles,
responsibilities and communication. She then discussed the issue of determining the
procurement process and that the consultant would sit down with Town staff and the Board to
interview everyone with the goal of helping them get unstuck. Sexton asked if they would work
on the 5-year plan. Delios clarified it would be a current reality assessment. Shonkoff asked if
hiring the consultant would be more about clarifying roles and communication and not making
inspection reports more accessible. Delios stated it would be to more understand what people
were trying to get at and the best way for information sharing. She stated it was up to the Board
for what kind of scope to envision. Sexton questioned having the ability to speak with the
consultant before hiring them, noting it was an interesting approach but had hoped for something
more like Peg's background. He opined holding off on the consultant to see what Scharr has to
offer.
Pesticide Regulations
Sexton stated the Board will present the information to the Select Board tonight and noted how
they would summarize where and how the regulation got to this point and their role. He noted
Town Counsel had not reviewed the latest draft and that it wouldn't be necessary if both Boards
reviewed and accepted the proposed regulation. Sexton stated he hoped to have a better guide
from Marblehead where the original draft came from. He discussed the topic of complaints and
the Health Agent's authority. Shonkoff commented that multiple complaints themselves don't
dictate a fine, but that the Health Agent's investigation would. The Board discussed the Health
Agent's authority and where the power ties legally. Vlasuk asked if the plan was to still use a
spreadsheet. Dove stated she did not envision having to track complaints. Sexton said that was
something to think more about but did not feel it had to be in this policy, but something for the
Board to vote on. He stated between now and officially rolling this out they can get a clearer
picture.
page 1 2
Delius asked if Sexton anticipated the Select Board taking a vote tonight. Sexton opined that it
would probably go to a public hearing. It was noted that Town Counsel wanted both the Select
Board and Board of Health to give their full input before it is reviewed by Town Counsel.
Sexton said he can't see the Select Board taking a vote tonight when it is the first time some of
them are viewing the policy.
Dove raised a discussion of a town that superseded a state level ban on a certain pesticide on
private property. Sexton commented that rolling this policy out has a large educational
component. Pfeifer stated she seems to think companies already don't spray on tree lawns
because of practices from other towns.
Minutes
Tabled until the next meeting.
The Board took break at 7:30 to reconvene in the Select Board room at 8:00pm.
Minutes continued by Select Board recording secretary.
4
Page 1 3
Dear Board of Health:
The Reading-North Reading Chamber of Commerce believes the proposed policy change which requires
the BOH to post infractions found during Health Inspections online is overly unfriendly to our local
businesses. The current BOH inspection process has been working successfully to both protect the
public health and the business integrity of local restaurants. Currently, if there are serious issues found
at a restaurant,there is a policy to notify the public. It is understandable in the restaurant business that
there are occasional, minor issues found at inspections, in which case businesses are given 10 days to
address those concerns. As the BOH is aware,these minor issues are almost always addressed within
the 10 day period. The current process is clearly effective in addressing minor inspection issues. Our
position is that the posting of all infractions online, however small,will garner a tremendous amount of
negative feedback and unwarranted and unnecessary concerns-particularly on social media.
On behalf of all Reading restaurants, we ask that you consider the significant unintended consequences
of the proposed policy on our hardworking, locally owned businesses. We are fortunate to have a
variety of amazing restaurants in our region, and even the whisper of a health infraction can
dramatically affect a business and its viability.We would like to see the current policy remain, allowing
time for the business to address the concerns,without causing the unnecessary alarm that an online
public posting would cause.
Respectfully,
040 Francine Coughlin,Owner of Bark n' ROTI and Chamber President
Submitted on behalf of the Board of Directors
Health Agent update from May 1st t May 31, 2019
• Inspections
• Food inspections/re-inspection
44
• complaints/animal inspections/dumpster
2 Complaints all 2 have been inspected and corrected
0 Animal inspection
• Septic Abandonment
2 locations
• Community Health/Public Health Nursing Division
. Flu shots administered
0 administered in May
• Maven
0 cases
Tobacco update
no violations
• Health Agent Report
Review of spreadsheet that Paul, a Reading resident provided
Heidi —feels Paul's spreadsheet is great the way it is
Eleanor -would like establishment names
- specific violations added discussed at meeting and posted to
website searchable by the public
Emmy - would like the exact code violation listed
- track trends. This would make it easier to see how
frequently a business is making the same mistake or if
many businesses are making the same mistake
- Likes using the code for the location but wants the code
L that references the name of the restaurant attached
� J
C �
a N
T
�'6 a
L a
Y
V
t W IBJ
to
C
d
cw
G
O Vf
m
t L \p
Y
ami Q J
H �
c �
c S
to
in
d
v z
E v
Z
`.r C�