HomeMy Public PortalAbout20200615 - Board of Health - Meeting Minutes
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts
REMOTE MEETING
Monday, June 15, 2020
MINUTES
Members Present: Chairman Whittemore, Vice Chairman King and Dr. Richard Jacobs
Also Present:Shaun McAuliffe, Health Director
Absent: Kasey Mauro, Public Health Nurse
Late Arrival(s):
Early Dismissal:
The meeting was called to order at 5:34 p.m. by Vice Chairman King.
Ms. LaRoche announced the “Script for Remotely Conducted Open Meetings” guidelines (attached).
Members and participants role call for attendance:
Elizabeth (Lisa) Whittemore-Yes
Vice Chairman King-Yes
Dr. Richard Jacobs-Yes
Shaun McAuliffe-Yes
Nidia LaRoche-Yes
Public Comment- Members of the community are invited to share ideas, state opinions or ask questions
Mr. Jeffrey Stiek was acknowledged and he stated that he was present to hear the reopening segment of
the meeting.
Request to Approve Board of Health Meeting Minutes of June 1, 2020
Ms. LaRoche requested the Board’s approval for the Board’s meeting minutes of June 1, 2020.
Dr. Jacobs stated that an “s” needed to be placed after his name on page 2 and requested for the
correction to be made. Ms. LaRoche acknowledged the request.
Dr. Jacobs motioned to approve the meeting minutes of June 1, 2020, with the correction as requested.
Vice Chairman King seconded. Roll Call: Chairman Whittemore-yes, Vice Chairman King-yes and Dr.
Jacobs-yes.
Department’s May 2020 Expense Summary
Ms. LaRoche presented the department’s summary expense report and noted that the operating budget
has a total of $20, 196 available.
Mr. McAuliffe informed the Board that the department will be paying the following out of the operating
budget:
ClearPath Services $4400
Food Code Pro Software $6500
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Contractual Services $3700
Clinic built-out equipment and other miscellaneous expenses.
Director’s FY2021 Goals
The Board discussed the goals that were submitted for review and agreed that Mr. McAuliffe three goals
be:
Guiding Hopkinton through the Covid-19 pandemic
Announce/advertise and educate that any business in Hopkinton is subject to any inspection as mandated by
the State statue.
Re-develop the department’s 5 year plan
Mr. McAulliffe agreed with the Boards goals and will present them for their approval at the Board
meeting of July 13, 2020.
June 18, 2020 Mobile COVID-19 Testing
Mr. McAuliffe informed the Board that the first Covid-19 testing event will take place on June 18th from
8AM-3PM at the High School. The testing is open for anyone from any town or city. The American Family
Care Urgent Care Facility (AFC) will be conducting the testing and collecting insurance information. AFC
will be providing the following:
2 mobile tents to conduct nose PCR testing
1 mobile tent to conduct serological antibody testing
He said that over 100 individuals have signed up already and that they might be extending the deadline to
the following day conducting tests by appointment only. The goal is to have three events in Hopkinton.
Vice Chairman King asked how soon would you receive results for the PCR testing. Mr. McAuliffe said
that the turnaround test results for both are two days.
Coronavirus Update -(Parks and Rec., Library, Sandy Beach, Municipal Land Use, Re-opening
Efforts)
Mr. McAuliffe updated the Board of the following items and provided a summary, which is attached, with
further detailed information:
Communications-Efforts are being addressed to ensure updated communications with the residents
Municipal Reopening-Occupancy for municipal reopening is a challenge; under the Governor’s Team
methods, Town Hall would be limited to an occupancy of 8 employees for the foreseeable future.
Parks & Recreation-The department will be operating similar to a camp with no contact sports allowed
Library & other municipal buildings-The Library will be operating with a pick up and drop off format; the
Senior Center may be able to return limited programming such as tax preparation and exterior exercise
programming
Inter(s)-Richa will be assisting with various projects including EEE
Community Efforts-June 18, 2020 Testing for COVID-19 at the High School, need to dispel myths about
testing restrictions
Status-There is one active case in town. The Department has been asked to share our best practices with
the MHOA.
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Mr. Strike asked if Mr. McAuliffe had any new information in regards to the opening of the Little League in
Phase 3. Mr. McAuliffe said that he does not have any new information for the Phase 3 reopening plan
but has reached out to the State and is waiting for a reply.
Tobacco Regulation Update
Mr. McAuliffe informed the Board that on June 1, 2020 the Governor adopted new tobacco regulations.
Below are just a few highlights of the regulations (document attached):
●No flavored tobacco of any kind which includes, menthol, snuff, chewing tobacco
●No JUUL products-company can’t make product below the nicotine content of 35 milligrams
●New fining system-more strict and more expensive
●Able to stack violations
●The tolling period extended to 36 months instead of 2 years.
Mr. McAuliffe stated that with the regional tobacco grant that was awarded, the department will soon
start educating the tobacco vendors and will conduct inspections for compliance.
EEE Update
Mr. McAuliffe notified that the CMMCP have started their larva site program for the town and will be
testing for West Nile and EEE virus hotspots and breeding grounds. They have also updated their
interactive aerial map which is found on their website. Hopkinton has 6 small water bodies which they
are treating now. Spraying dates and times have been posted on the town website and sent via social
media. The State has indicated that this will be a very bad year for EEE. The State is also creating
incentives for other towns to participate in the CMMCP structure. Mr. McAuliffe mentioned that he is
working with the Fire Chief and IT Director to create a town wide notification system similar to the
COVID communication system and hopes to have that intact soon.
Director’s Report
Mr. McAuliffe updated the Board on the following items:
Vaping/Tobacco – The Director participated in a virtual tobacco control conference with the tobacco
control team from the Commonwealth of MA. We reviewed the new regulations and penalty structure. My
intent is to complete compliance inspections this week and the first week of July 2020.
I have a virtual meeting with the MWHF on 6/22/20.
COVID-19 - The Department has purchased additional temporal thermometers to provide to the
essential municipal departments so the staff can complete daily morning assessments. We will be
utilizing grant funds to enhance our marketing efforts and purchase masks for the vulnerable residents of
Hopkinton. We are trying to purchase PPE for the Flu and future COVID-19 vaccination clinics that we
will be hosting. We also need to purchase other vaccine to address the vaccination gaps that may have
been created by the pandemic.
Nursing – The Town is building a nurses office in the basement of Town Hall. We are starting to plan for
flu season and to bridge any vaccination gaps that might exist given residents' hesitance to visit their
PCPs. We intend to host one or more mobile COVID-19 testing events at the Middle School. We are
working with IT to identify a digital solution to assist the municipality with temperature and health
tracking, scheduling for contact tracing and training.
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Intern - Richa Jain, a public health student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has started
with the Department. She is working remotely and providing assistance in data analysis, communication
and research.
Natural Gas - Eversource continues to remove the insulation from Tank B so that they complete their
structural assessment of the inner and outer structures.
Septic Failure(s) - We have several septic failures. One notable one involves the Woodville Post Office
complex. We are working with the postal service, its vendors and the ownership to address the failure.
The backyard of the Rabbit House is being mitigated to remove the nuisance droppings.
Mosquitoes/EEE - I have already had one conference call with the DPH (see attached). I have another
this week. Richa is learning about the program. The CMMCP has completed several larvicidal treatments
to date.
Ticks - Though the number of tick illness reports has been low, we have had several recent cases and
multiple residents that have identified ticks on their bodies. Richa will be assisting me with the
installation of our trail signage.
Pools, Outdoor Programing and Camp Inspections - I met with the HCC on Friday. Their pool will be
ready to open this week. We are working with the apartment complex operators. Woodview’s operator
is hesitant to complete the disinfection of equipment, mask monitoring, occupancy monitoring, etc. I’ve
requested a written plan from the management company on how this will be resolved. The YMCA
inspection will be completed this week.
Food Inspections - We are not currently performing inspections but are routinely checking in with the
facilities that are currently operating.
Operational Summary - The Department is managing its core responsibilities, including the issuance of
permits, inspections of well and septic installations and investigation of complaints.
Research Project(s) - We will be completing some laboratory testing throughout the community and
working with some regional scientists to assess whether we can identify potential health risks or
predict/identify potential cyanobacteria outbreaks.
Non-COVID-19 Complaints
We received several nuisance dust complaints from the residents of Legacy Farms North. I investigated
the complaints and will be working with Land Use/Planning and the MDEP to resolve the issue.
ADJOURN: Vice Chairman King motioned to adjourn the Board of Health Meeting at 7:00p.m. Dr. Jacobs
seconded. Role Call: Dr. Jacob-Yes; Vice Chairman King-Yes, Chairman Whittemore-Yes.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nidia Ruberti LaRoche
Health Department Administrative Assistant
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