Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance

By City Clerk at 3:32 pm, Feb 13, 2025 NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance Date: October 29th, 2024 Time: 2 pm - 3 pm Meeting Location: ​ Virtual: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88294190778 APPROVED AGENDA FOR VIRTUAL MEETING Voting Attendees: Non-Voting Attendees: a.​ Deb Ketchen, Amesbury a.​ Meghan Russell, BME Strategies b.​ Ann Marie Casey, Amesbury b.​ Erika Syokau, BME Strategies c.​ Chris Berube, Merrimac c.​ Cheryl Sbarra, MAHB d.​ Bill Holt, Georgetown d.​ Jennifer Robertson, John Snow Inc e.​ Rosemary Deice, Groveland e.​ Kate Lena, John Snow Inc f.​ Frank Marchegiani, Rowley f.​ Guillermo Ronquillo, John Snow Inc g.​ Paul Sevigny, West Newbury I.​ Call to Order a.​ Deb K made a motion for the meeting to be called, Frank seconded. Meeting was called to order at 2:03 pm with a quorum of 4/7 voting members present (Amesbury, Merrimac, West Newbury, and Rowley) II.​ Approval of October 15th Minutes a.​ Paul motioned for the meeting minutes to be accepted as written, and Deb K seconded. Meeting minutes were approved with a vote of all members present in favor of approving last meeting minutes. III.​ Cheryl Sbarra Opioid Settlement Presentation a.​ Cheryl Sbarra and the folks from JSI gave a 20-minute presentation on Care Massachusetts The Opioid Abatement Partnership with a 10-minute Q&A.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance b.​ The group had a presentation on CARE Massachusetts and pooling of opioid abatement funds. i.​ CARE Massachusetts provides free technical assistance related to the implementation and use of opioid abatement funds. ii.​ Funded by the MA Bureau of Substance Addiction Service who collaborated with cities and towns across the state to take action to end the overdose crisis. They connect municipalities with people most impacted by the overdose crisis, promoting the selection and implementation of health strategies, educating the public and facilitating collab across municipalities iii.​ Under the State Subdivision Agreement the municipalities agreed to: 1.​ Spend funds within 7 listed strategies 2.​ Center lived experience and equity 3.​ Submit an annual report if you received over $35k iv.​ Available Resources: 1.​ The matching grant program information can be found here: https://mosaic.rizema.org/grantmaking/apply-for-a-grant/ The application deadline has been extended to November 15th 2.​ BSAS Dashboard - data points on substance use by town, overdose deaths, EMS events, addiction services, how much money your municipality is receiving https://datavisualization.dph.mass.gov/views/BSAS_Dashboard_Pha se_3_Community_Profile/CP_Overview?%3Aembed=y&%3Alinktarg et=_self c.​ Questions from the group: i.​ Bill had asked for a copy of the slides. Cheryl will send them to Erika to share with the group. ii.​ Bill mentioned that in Georgetown the police department is currently getting the funds. iii.​ Cheryl mentioned that for those interested in pooling funds, MAHB and JSI can talk to municipal Select Boards about how to use the funds. iv.​ Cheryl shared examples of how municipalities who agreed to using the funds used evidence-based strategies. If the funds aren't used for those specific  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance strategies then the AG gets involved. Wherever the funds sit, want to make sure the town knows they signed onto the agreement v.​ Deb K asked if training for Narcan applies to evidence based strategies? 1.​ Cheryl answered yes to the narcan training idea and will share the subdivision agreement to the group as well. vi.​ Cheryl informed the group that she thinks that this is a great opportunity. She feels really strongly that these funds present a real opportunity to respect and listen to those that are most affected. vii.​ Jennifer mentioned that the third rail of spending is what was related to the police department. There have been a number of things raised that do not follow under the strategies and the AG has said that they cannot be used that way. The AGs have several options if they are not used appropriately. IV.​ Notification to Municipalities a.​ Emails have been sent as of yesterday. V.​ Relavent a.​ Still waiting on licenses from Groveland and Georgetown i.​ Rosemary let Erika know that the Relavent planning template has been sent to the Town Administrator. 1.​ Groveland needs food and housing primarily. Rosemary mentioned the town has some pools but it is not as important. 2.​ Rosemary will be following up with IT to see how Relavent will work. 3.​ Meghan reminded the group that the licenses can be adjusted as needed. ii.​ Bill let Erika know that he was unsure on the licenses needed for Georgetown at the moment. 1.​ Bill noted that he does inspections himself but that the town is looking to hire another inspector. 2.​ Bill will most likely need one full food and housing license for inspector use.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance VI.​ IMA Check In a.​ Still waiting to hear from KPLaw i.​ What updates do folks have on their end on KPLaw reviewing the IMA? ii.​ Anne Marie informed the group that she is aware that KP Law is still in the middle of reviewing the IMA. There was some concern over the BOH being the authorized entity related to funding as opposed to the Chief Executive. Anne Marie will check in with Mark to get an update and will let Erika know. b.​ Currently, Erika is working on creating a package that involves language to appoint voting and alternate members, language to vote on posting of the meeting minutes, and the final IMA. c.​ Bill asked if the deadline on getting the IMA signed is still the end of the month and informed the group that both his BOH and Select Board have voted to approve the draft. They are just waiting on the final to sign. i.​ Erika informed Bill and the group that we will not have the IMA finalized by the October 31st deadline, however if we have it signed in November that is okay. However the group should be aware that we will not receive our next funding portion until it is signed. VII.​ Community Updates a.​ Sent job descriptions to Amesbury HR for review i.​ Ann Marie will check in with the HR director tomorrow. b.​ Erika is working on obtaining website costs and will follow up at the next meeting with website information. c.​ Erika is still waiting to hear back from vendors about the hazardous waste day event and will circle back with the group once that information is gathered. i.​ Amesbury and Groveland shared that they have sharps collection ii.​ Georgetown residents have a need for sharps collection d.​ The MHOA conference will be held the same week of our meeting and folks may be heading out that same day. i.​ Do those who plan to attend have their hotels booked?  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance 1.​ Bill has it booked and will send Erika the confirmation. 2.​ Rosemary is driving out each day and will need mileage reimbursement. ii.​ Erika checked with the group to see if the 11/12 meeting time at 2pm still will work for folks since it is the week of the MHOA conference. 1.​ Rosemary will be there, Bill may not and will let Erika know. VIII.​ Adjournment a.​ Ann Marie made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Bill seconded the motion. All voting members present were in favor of adjourning the meeting. Meeting was adjourned at 2:55 pm IX.​ Next Steps BME: a.​ Erika will share the slides from the Opioid presentation and follow up with the group on how they want to move forward. b.​ Erika will follow up on the IMA and create a BOH package for voting purposes. c.​ Erika to obtain quotes on website development and hazardous waste collection events MVPHA: a.​ Ann Marie to follow up with Erika on regional internal job posting and IMA updates b.​ Rosemary to follow up with Erika with licenses once IT has reviewed the software c.​ Bill to send Erika his hotel confirmation for MHOA 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.  NOTICE OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Merrimack Valley Public Health Alliance 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.