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HomeMy Public PortalAboutBoard of Health -- 2020-10-21 Minutes fllJJJJ/J//j����� Town of Brewster w `•��\\�C f�' ET CEX�j�+Q�ti� BREWSTER9MASSACHU8 MAfN SETTS02631 - 1898 HealthDeprtment O 4 o E`���. � f Amy L. von Hone, R. S . , C .H. O . Director IFIFFIFI PHONE : 508. 896 . 3701 EXT. 1120 r p _ _ < FAX : 508 . 896 .4538 Sherrie McCullough, R. S . 1" 6 = �_ - brhealth brewster- ma . gov Assistant Director WWW.BREWSTER-MA. GOV Tammi Mason Senior Department Assistant Board of Health Meeting Wednesday October 21 , 2020 at 7:OOPM Remote Participation Meeting Board members on remotely: Carmen Scherzo, DVM , Chair; Penny Hausser Holeman, MPH , MA, MS, Vice Chair and Annette Graczewski MT (ASCP) Board members absent: Joe Ford & Jeannie Kampas Others present remotely: Amy von Hone, R. S ., C . H .O ., Health Director; Tammi Mason, Senior Department Assistant; Maura Smith Stein (owner of 228 Cranview Road) and David Rosen (owner of 26 Daisy Lane) Dr. Scherzo stated that for anyone wanting to listen to the meeting can do so via the Town of Brewster livestream at http ://video brewster- m ,gov/cablecastPublicSite/`? channel = 1 or on Channel 18 and anyone that has a question or comment could email them to health board meeting@brewster- ma . gov 1 . Chairman 's comments For residents planning to celebrate Halloween, some recommendations to keep in mind this year are: enjoy Halloween outside rather than attending indoor events; place candy on a platter rather than in a bowl; a costume mask is not a substitute for a face mask or covering; maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from other participants who are not members of the same household and carry hand sanitizer for use after coming in contact with frequently touched surfaces and before eating candy. Food for Kids ( F4K) will be sponsoring meal distribution at Stony Brook and Eddy Elementary Schools at least through December 31 , 2020 . Meals will be prepared and distributed by Nauset Public Schools to children attending schools in person . Grab and go meals will be handed out from Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans to any children not physically attending . The Covid - 19 pandemic has shown that the local public health system in Massachusetts is not adequately structured, staffed or financed to meet large scale public health challenges. In response to the challenges faced during the Covid - 19 pandemic by hundreds of municipal public health departments and boards of health in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Public Health Association and a broad coalition of partners have formed the SAPHE 2 .0 Coalition . SAPHE 2 .0 would ensure minimum public health standards for every community, increase capacity and effectiveness by encouraging municipalities to share services, create a uniform data collection and reporting system and establish a sustainable state funding mechanism to support local boards of health and health departments . We would urge your support for SAPHE 2 .0 and provide equity in local public health . Effective October 5, 2020 lower risk communities, such as Brewster, were able to reopen a limited number of sectors, with restrictions, in Step 2 of Phase III. Indoor and outdoor performance venues, arcades, indoor and outdoor recreation businesses, gyms, museums and libraries are permitted to increase their capacity by 50%. The limit for indoor gatherings remains at a maximum of 25 and the limit for outdoor gatherings at private residences will remain at a maximum of 50 people. Outdoor gatherings at event venues and in public settings will have a limit of 100 people in lower risk step II communities. As this Board has limited most of its discussions this year to Covid - 19 matters, I wish to explore if there are any other matters that the BOH would like to discuss. We must be observant of the additional demands the Covid - 19 pandemic has had on our Health BOH 10/21 /2020 Minutes Page 2 Department, So, I would ask that we limit discussion to only one non-Covid - 19 subject at a time. I ask Board members to email those issues that you would like to discuss to the Health Director for consideration to be added to our agenda , 2 . Citizen 's Forum None , 3 . Leaching Facility Setback Regulation variance request — 228 Cranview Road — Maura Smith Stein Maura Smith Stein was present remotely to answer any questions the Board had . Dr. Scherzo questioned the septic plan that showed a leach pit that is 4X6 feet, installed in 1974 and is designed for 2 bedrooms and asked if the house currently had 3 bedrooms . Ms . Stein stated that there is a 3rd room with a spiral staircase going down to the basement. It has a small broom closet and a built in desk and was used as an office . The past 2 years the house has been rented to two people who only used the 2 actual bedrooms. She wouldn 't consider this a bedroom . The room only has a couch in it and the only way to get to the basement thru the first floor is thru this room . She is selling it as a 2 bedroom . It is a very small home . Dr. Scherzo asked about the 2014 septic plan that was approved in 2014 for a 3 bedroom outside the 300' buffer. Ms. Stein stated that she had no plans to install that system . Mrs . Graczewski voiced her concern with the age of the system and the fact that groundwater flow is going towards the pond . Ms . Stein stated that the septic inspection passed with the exception of the SAS being too close to the pond . The system is functioning properly and there is a lot of vegetation between the system and the pond . Dr. Scherzo stated that he was concerned with the age of the system also . It is 46 years old, 112' up gradient of Elbow Pond and has a 7. 57 foot separation from the bottom of the SAS and groundwater. Elbow Pond is one that has had bad blooms of algae . The Elbow Pond Association is working to harvest the annual plants to remove phosphorus from the pond . This property is 1 of 6 up gradient septic systems that is adding phosphorus to the pond because of how close it is to the pond and how shallow it is between the bottom of the SAS and groundwater. Mrs. Graczewski asked Mrs. von Hone about the actual separation between the SAS and groundwater. Mrs. von Hone stated that it is 4' +/- . Ms . Stein doesn 't think this small 2 bedroom home has as much impact on the pond as the Board thinks. Mrs. Graczewski asked about the well location . Mrs. von Hone stated that was was unable to tell from the septic plan where the location of the well was and that well testing results still needed to be turned into the Health Department, Motion: In light of the Board of Health 's local regulation, the age of the system, the fact that the well appears to be within 100' of the SAS and groundwater is flowing towards the pond, the system must be replaced with a current Title 5 system outside of the 300' zone. Motion : Annette Graczewski Second : Penny Hausser Holeman Vote: Penny Hausser Holeman — yes Action : Motion carried Annette Graczewski — yes Carmen Scherzo — yes 4. Leaching Facility Setback Regulation variance request — 26 Daisy Lane David Rosen was present remotely to answer any questions the Board may have. Dr. Scherzo spoke about the separation to groundwater. He believes that it is 17 . 5 feet. The bottom of the SAS is about 41 . 5 Schoolhouse Pond is at 24' . Mrs . von Hone had it at 31 ' BOH 10/21 /2020 Minutes Page 3 Mrs. von Hone stated that the inspector had 30.0' under ' observed groundwater", that was the depth of the test hole. She stated that the difference could be because of what she and Dr. Scherzo were looking at as reference points. She took elevations from the GIS maps, which are most accurate to date. The bottom of the system was 124" below grade . Interpreting that the existing grade above the leach pit was elevation 64, so that would put the bottom of the leach pit at 53 . 67' . Looking at the GIS map and where the contours fall at the edge of the pond (roughly 22'), so that's where the 31 ' separation comes from . Dr. Scherzo stated that this system is 32 years old and is up gradient of Schoolhouse Pond, which is eutrophic. The SAS is a 6X6 leach pit with 2' of stone and is a 4 bedroom system . David Rosen stated that the home is only a 3 bedroom . There is a room in an unfinished basement that is partitioned off. Mrs. Graczewski asked about windows in the downstairs room . Mr. Rosen stated that there was a slider and that you have to walk thru the basement to get to the room . that there are wetlands around the property to consider if making the owner move the system . Mrs. Graczewski stated p p Mrs . von Hone stated that the septic plan does show the edge of wetlands and the pond . Ms . Hausser Holeman stated that she is not concerned with this property and feels comfortable with where it is. i Motion : Finding that the separation to groundwater is 31 ' +/- and there is no better location on the property to install a new septic, approve the variance to allow the SAS to remain 202' + /- from Schoolhouse Pond . Motion : Annette Graczewski Second : Penny Hausser Holeman Vote: Penny Hausser Holeman — yes Action : Motion carried Annette Graczewski — yes Carmen Scherzo — no 5 . Discuss and review Tobacco Regulations Dr. Scherzo asked the Board if they thought the current Town of Brewster regulation should be revised and edited or should the MHOA regulation be revised . Mrs. Graczewski stated that she would like to wait for the whole Board to be present before getting into a long discussion . Ms . Hausser Holeman stated that she took the Brewster regulation and compared it to the sample State regulation and started to incorporate changes based on that . She noted that she only completed sections A, B & C . She would like to harmonize the Brewster regulation with what the State sample regulation is and also to see if there were differences and to capture and possibly retain the things that were already there that are unique to Brewster. Dr. Scherzo stated that he liked the portions that were part of the State regulation were highlighted in yellow and local changes were highlighted in green and likes all the references that are documented . He does not understand the reference about " educational institutions sell tobacco to younger population " . There is no documentation for that and it doesn 't make sense. He also spoke about stores that sell tobacco close to schools. He stated that he spoke to the owner of Winslow Spirits & Things, which is the only store within 200' of a school and he said that he doesn 't get any children in the store unless they are with an adult. Mrs. Graczewski stated that she thought that the Board had spoken about this before and decided they wouldn 't go backwards. If a new establishment was built, then this would be applicable . Mrs . von Hone stated that some other Town 's grandfather licenses within a certain time frame . Motion: Continue this discussion to a future meeting, when the whole Board is present, at the discretion of the Health Director and Board of Health Chair. Motion : Annette Graczewski Second : Penny Hausser Holeman Vote: Penny Hausser Holeman — yes Action: Motion carried Annette Graczewski — yes Carmen Scherzo — yes i BOH 10/21 /2020 Minutes Page 4 6 . Health Director update — COVID, Flu Clinics, Mosquito testing Mrs. von Hone stated that in the last 3 weeks there have been 3 new case, however in the last week there has been no new cases . The total number of cases in Brewster currently is 135 . 37 in the general population and 98 in the long term care facilities (which is combined staff & patients) . We are still in a low risk category, which means we can continue to operate in phase 3 of step 2. Because of the 3 cases we had 3 weeks ago, we went from the lowest risk category to green, but we are still well within the limits of a low risk community. Massachusetts in general has seen an uptick in cases and with the holidays coming up, it's going to be crucial that we stick to protocols . With the travel advisory, Massachusetts is seeing a lot of asymptomatic people coming up positive . Mrs . Graczewski stated that although the positive numbers are going up, the hospitalizations and deaths are not and that is because it is the younger population that is coming up positive now and not the elderly immune compromised . Mrs , von Hone stated that the flu clinic will be held tomorrow from 1 -4PM at Our Lady of the Cape Church . Pre - registration was required and filled up quickly. There have been cancellations and the office is filling those spots as needed . The CERT team will be there as well as Fire and Police to help . This will be done as an EDS drill . The school clinic was October 9th and was a great success. Total of 168 participants. Gabrielle Sakolsky from Cape Cod Mosquito Control send out notification that routine testing for mosquitos is over and she was happy to say that there were no positives this year. Mrs . Graczewski thanked Mrs . von Hone and the Health Department staff for all their hard work. Mrs. von Hone thanked Tammi Mason, Senior Department Assistant and Sherrie McCullough, Assistant Health Director for all their help . 7. Topics the Chair did not anticipate None Information items were noted . Meeting adjourned at 8 : 20PM .