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HomeMy Public PortalAboutBoard of Health -- 2023-04-19 Minutes0, 4' -,:�s 0 M 0 .0 �6 Town of Brewster 2198 MAIN STREET BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS 02631-1898 PHONE: 508.896.3701 EXT. 1120 FAX: 508.896.4538 brheaIth(ivbrewster-ma.g WWW.BREWSTER-MA.GOV Board of Health Meeting Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 6:30PM Town Hall, Room A Health Department Amy L. von Hone, KS., C.H.O. Director Sherrie McCullough, R.S. Assistant Director Tammi Mason Senior Department Assistant Board members present: Annette Graczewski, MT (ASCP), Chair; Kimberley Crocker Pearson, MS, MD, MPH, Vice Chair; Penny Holeman, MPH, MA, MS; David Bennett and Casey D. Chatelain Others present: Amy von Hone, R.S., C.H.O., Health Director 1 . Call to order Meeting was called to order at 6:30PM. 2. Declaration of a Quorum All present. 3. Recording Statement Noted. 4. Chair announcements The Brewster Police Department will be holding a blood drive on 4/28/23 from 1 IIAM — 5PM. Appointments are required and can be made by visiting the donor portal at capecodhealthcare.com Beautify Brewster will take place on 4/29/23 (rain date of 4/30/23). For information on volunteering, contact Ryan Burch of the Natural Resource Department or Meg Morris from the Recycling Commission. A reminder for the BOH members who have not completed their ethics training. Please do so within the next couple of weeks. 5. Citizen's forum None. 6. Consent Agenda: * 122 North Pond Drive- 3001 setback AG -this is a 1 O'variance request from the 300' setback requirement from the pond under the local BOH regulations. A Title 5 Septic System inspection was performed in February of 2023 for the purpose of a real estate transfer. The inspection report noted that the 1983 system was functioning as designed but was located within the 300' setback to Blueberry Pond. The 3 bedroom dwelling is down gradient of the pond and the leach pit is greater than 4' above groundwater. The system is compliant with the 1978 Code. Approval was done in-house. Motion: Approve the consent agenda. N:\HeaIth\from Shari\MSWORK FOLDERS\A4EETINGS\BOH\ApTiI I 923m.doc Motion: Penny Holeman Second: Kimberley Crocker Pearson Vote: 5-0 Action: Motion passed 7. Continued discussion and possible vote on Pressure Dosed System Enforcement letter AG- this was brough up at a BOH meeting in February. It was intended to be used as an educational tool for homeowners and not as a means of enforcement. The letter has had some revisions. PH -asked for a refresher as to why this is moving forward. AG -it is a requirement under Title 5 and before the BOH first discussed it, AVH and I met with George Heufelder. She noted that she came away from that meeting thinking that this letter may not be necessary. She is concerned with the new Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) changes coming forward and the fact that homeowners may be asked to spend a lot of money to add something to their septic systems. DB- believes that if there is a regulation and there is reason behind it (which there is), then he is good with the letter and he doesn't think regulations should be made if they are not enforced. He believes the letter should be sent out. AG -stated that she and DB looked at some of the I/A system files in the Health Department and did find some reports that were being done. KCP-asked if the Board should start with commercial properties. Suggested starting enforcement in stages and a phased approach may be a better way to go. AVH-this will impact the office. She is concerned with questions the dept. may get and how to answer them. Expenses may be an issue. She thinks that in general, this is not being enforced and stated that there is nothing specified in Title 5 as to the type of inspection required for it. She asked if the BOH was looking for a full Title 5 inspection report or something modified. AG -spoke about a 1 -page form that was found in one of the files that she looked at that may be more appropriate to use instead of a full Title 5 inspection report. PH -would like to add something to the letter regarding how this is an important piece to maintaining a very expensive system. There was discussion on the letter. PH- went over changes she would like to see in the letter. More discussion on changes to the letter. Motion: Bring the letter with new comments included to the next Board meeting. Motion: David Bennett Second: Casey D. Chatelain Vote: 5-0 Action: Motion passed 8. Discussion on I/A technology Noncompliance Enforcement Policy and Flow Chart AG -asked the Board if they want to develop a policy relative to the Board's approach to dealing with individuals who have I/A technology in the ground who are not compliant with the requirements for nitrogen or phosphorus removal and, after having developed a policy, do we want to begin to review those that are not compliant or do we want to move forward right out of the box looking at those properties that we know to be non-compliant based on the County reporting. DB- produced a flow chart previously with regards to what we would do if someone is out of compliance. AG -stated that she and DB went through a number of files to determine why I/A systems were installed, etc. NAHea1di\from SharAMSWORK FOLDERS\MEETINGS\BOH\Apri11923m.doc DB & AG -thought that it would be appropriate to bring in some of the files to the next meeting for the BOH to review. KCP- asked how this would interact with the management at the County level. DB- it will all go through the local BOH. PH- suggested the Board send a 1St letter telling the homeowner that if the report is received by a certain date, they won't have to come before the Board. AVH-the Board needs to define the 2 major categories that we will be dealing with: 1. Those that don't have a contract or have an expired contract 2. Those with systems that have a contract and testing in place but are not compliant AG -2 letters usually go out and then they would be required to come before the Boar. That doesn't happen often. The second part is: what are we going to do with someone that has a contract in place and does testing and inspections but is still not meeting the numbers. Do we bring them before the Board? CC -yes, that is what should be happening. There was discussion about this among the Board members. Motion: Carry the flow chart and this discussion to the next meeting Motion: David Bennett Second: Kimberley Crocker Pearson Vote: 5-0 Action: Motion passed 9. Review and approve minutes from 1/4/23 and 2/1/23 meetings AG -on the 1/4/23 meeting minutes there is a typo on page 2. AG -on the 2/1/23 meeting minutes (with regards to Stephen Brown's property), a statement from Davis Walters, Building Commissioner was made that "there were no health violations". She believes that this was misinterpreted and should state that there are "no serious health and safety concerns". Motion: Approve the 1/4/23 & 2/1/23 meeting minutes with corrections. Motion: Penny Holeman Second: Kimberley Crocker Pearson Vote: 5-0 Action: Motion passed 10. Liaison Reports AG- the Recycling Commission met yesterday and noted that there will be 2 warrant articles on the May Town Meeting: 1. Ban on Nip Bottles (recommended by the Recycling Commission) 2. Citizens petition regarding Plastic Reduction Act (full article is included in the warrant booklet) KCP- WQRC did not meet. DB- WQTF did meet and there was a presentation given by the Commission on their water initiative and working with the Ponds Coalition. There is also a budget article for investigation of Walkers Pond. PH — the COA had a Soft Skills Training course that was attended by most of the COA's on the Cape. 11. Matters not reasonably anticipated by the Chair KCP- April 22, 2023 is National Pharmaceutical Day. Residents can bring unused prescriptions to the Police Department. NAHealthUrom ShariNSWORK FOLDERS\MEETINGS\BOH\Apri11923m.doc DB- noted that he attended the MEHA training and stated that the County has the capability to test for PFA's. He believes the public needs to be educated on this. He also spoke about the Opioid epidemic and the settlement money that is being distributed currently. 40% of the money is going to the towns and he thinks that the town should advocate where this money goes. AVH- met with Peter Lombardi, Town Manager and the Police and Fire Chiefs about this. There isn't a large enough amount of money to create a position to deal with the crisis, but things are still up for discussion. She is hopeful that it will be used to help citizens dealing with this addiction. KCP- asked about people carrying Naloxone. She would like to see a fund to make it available to whoever needs it. 12. Items for next agenda DB would like to put the Opioid settlement on the next agenda. 13. Next meeting: May 3, 2023 Noted. Informational items were noted. Meeting adjourned at 8:05PM NAHealth\from Shari\MSWORK FOLDERS\MEETINGS\BOH\April1923m.doe