Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance

By City Clerk at 3:34 pm, Feb 13, 2025 NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance Date: October 8th, 2024 Time: 2 pm - 3 pm Meeting Location: ​ Virtual: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88294190778 APPROVED AGENDA FOR VIRTUAL MEETING Voting Attendees: a.​ Vinny Tirone, Amesbury​ ​ ​ e. Frank Marchegiani, Rowley b.​ Bill Holt, Georgetown​​ ​ ​ f. Paul Sevigny, West Newbury c.​ Chris Berrube, Merrimac d.​ Deb Ketchen, Merrimac and Amesbury e.​ Deb Rogers, Newbury Non-Voting Attendees a.​ Ann Marie Casey, Amesbury b.​ Meghan Russell, BME Strategies c.​ Erika Syokau, BME Strategies d.​ Mike Hugo MAHB I.​ Call to Order a.​ Paul made a motion for the meeting to be called, Chris seconded. Meeting was called to order at 2:04 pm with a quorum of 6/7 voting members present (Amesbury, Merrimac, Georgetown, West Newbury, Newbury, and Rowley) Approval of September 17th Minutes a.​ Paul asked if he was in attendance at last week’s meeting. Erika and Meghan confirmed that he was not. Chris made a motion to approve the minutes as written and Deb K seconded. Meeting minutes were approved with a vote of 5 in favor  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance (Merrimac, Amesbury, Rowley, Georgetown, and Newbury) and 1 abstention (West Newbury) II.​ Community Updates a.​ Erika went to organize supplies and apparel at Amesbury. There are a few discrepancies in apparel items and supplies. b.​ May need to look into voting for re-ordering more supply items and larger apparel sizes. c.​ Please send Erika an email with the items you picked up and the sizes of apparel. i.​ Paul, Bill, and Deb R have not picked items up yet d.​ Last month’s training hub meeting was really beneficial. There is a lot of opportunity to work with Steven and Terry to provide group food training for inspectors. If the group is interested in informal or formal health inspector training, reach out to Erika. e.​ Erika gave an update on the budget and shared a current updated workplan and budget slide. i.​ Chris asked a question about identifying more spending ideas, we will discuss this next week III.​ Relavent Next Steps a.​ The group discussed the presentation given by Michael Hicks in September on Relavent. i.​ Vinny and Ann Marie asked how the procurement process works for Amesbury. 1.​ Meghan explained that Relavent will create Software as a Service (SaaS) licensing agreements for each municipality that stipulate the number and type of licenses each municipality will receive and that Amesbury will pay for them through the PHE grant. Amesbury will sign an additional contract with Relavent to pay the invoice on behalf of the grant.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance 2.​ This purchase is exempt from 30B purchasing rules as it is a purchase for the direct functioning of a health department and therefore is not subject to the requirement to receive 3 bids, etc. Mike Hugo and Meghan each have documentation to support this. ii.​ No one is against moving forward with Relavent and no one wanted a further demo on either module. b.​ Please email Meghan and Erika letting us know who in your municipality may need access to the licenses and which type (i.e food, housing, pools, full ipad use or office use only). As we know more about the specific licenses folks need we can circle back with expected costs. IV.​ Hiring Next Steps a.​ Erika sent out JD and postings for our regional inspector and regional public health nurse. These are based on our 1:1 conversations on current needs in the alliance. Erika asked if folks generally agree that the regional inspector can play a large role in helping with food and housing inspections. i.​ Deb K looked at it and agreed that housing and food are key for her. ii.​ Chris would like more time to review Nursing. iii.​ Vinny would like to review at the BOH meeting this week b.​ Group agreed to have a final review by next Tuesday at the October 15th meeting. V.​ IMA Updates and Next Steps a.​ Newburyport officially voted to leave the group and the IMA has been updated accordingly. We will send out an updated version to everyone with the meeting minutes. i.​ Bill asked about the current funding with Newburyport exiting the group. The funding will not go down for the remainder of the contract, through FY27. b.​ Last week Erika sent an email asking for the contacts of legal municipalities. Amesbury and Rowley have been reached out to by Rich. Merrimac, Groveland, and Newbury have had the IMA reviewed by their legal team with the appropriate edits.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance Georgetown and West Newbury need to have the updated IMA approved by their legal team. i.​ Paul has reached out to his Town Manager multiple times but does not know the status. Paul will try to get a name at KP that Rich can reach out to. ii.​ Bill informed the group that Georgetown was down to one BOH member, just replaced the two vacancies last night. The group will be discussing the IMA at their first meeting. The BOS has approved the IMA but will want to see the updated version without Newburyport c.​ Erika and Meghan shared the reminder that the final version of the IMA needs to be signed by Oct. 31st. VI.​ Notification to Municipalities a.​ Annual Notification Memorandum for Municipalities Participating in the Public Health Excellence for Shared Services Grant is due Oct 31st. As a reminder to your municipality that you are participating in the grant. b.​ If you haven't sent Erika the names and emails of your mayor, town administrator/manager, chief financial officer, select board chair and board of health chair please do so. ​ i. Erika has only received contacts from Amesbury, Rowley, and West Newbury. VII.​ Opioid Settlement a.​ Cheryl Sbarra at MAHB has offered to come speak to us to provide updates and information on the opioid settlement fund, and how a lot of municipalities have taken the initiative to use these funds in spaces they may need. Is this something we would be interested in? i.​ Chris and Deb K expressed interest in having Cheryl come present to the group.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance ii.​ No one voiced opposition to Cheryl coming. Erika will reach out to Cheryl to arrange a time for the group to have a presentation on the opioid settlement funds. VIII.​ Adjournment a.​ Chris B made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Vinny seconded the motion. All voting members present were in favor of adjourning the meeting. Meeting was adjourned at 2:52 pm. IX.​ Recap Next Steps a.​ Review the grant planning template and Please email Meghan and Erika letting us know who in your municipality may need access to the licenses and which type b.​ Please review the job description and job postings for both regional roles and report feedback at the next meeting. c.​ West Newbury to reach out to Erika and Meghan with a specific name from KPLaw d.​ Georgetown to share updated IMA at board meeting e.​ Please send Erika the list of your contacts for the notification to municipalities. f.​ Erika will reach out to Cheryl Sbarra to find a time to meet with the group. Please Note: There will be no public participation in speaking at this meeting. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BOARD OR COMMITTEE MAY ACT ON ITEMS IN A DIFFERENT ORDER THAN THEY APPEAR ON THIS AGENDA. ALSO, IF IT SO VOTES, THE BOARD OR COMMITTEE MAY GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION DURING THE MEETING. PERSONS INTERESTED ARE ADVISED THAT, IN THE EVENT ANY MATTER TAKEN UP AT THIS MEETING REMAINS UNFINISHED AT THE CLOSE OF THE MEETING, IT MAY BE PUT OFF TO A CONTINUED SESSION OF THIS MEETING, WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.