Board of Health

May 27, 2026 BOH draft minutes Board members participating: Chair Celia Bird, Jenny Tomczak, Kate Tracy, Bianka Cimrin, Jane Seymour and Health Officer Bill Ward Board Chair Celia Bird called the meeting to order at 5:45 pm. Agenda Jenny made a motion to adopt the draft agenda. 2nd by Bianka. Vote was unanimous in favor. Draft minutes Celia noted the typo in the draft that said May when it should say April. Jenny asked that the abbreviations should be spelled out for clarity. Kate made a motion to approve the draft April March minutes with the corrections. Bianka 2nd- Vote was unanimous in favor. Public Forum There were no members of the public present. Substance Abuse and Safe Syringe Disposal Bianka presented an overhauled report on the public and mental health impacts of syringe litter in Burlington, highlighting the significant mental toll on affected individuals despite the rare physical risk of disease transmission. She proposed a four-part framework to address the issue, including securing non-taxpayer funding, mandating upstream accountability, establishing standard of care, and closing the surveillance gap. Bianca requested feedback on the report and proposed solutions within two weeks, with the goal of presenting a formal resolution to the City Council. There will be follow up on the report and a vote at the June Board of Health meeting. Health Equity Celia introduced health equity as a standing agenda item, explaining its purpose is to ensure the board's work considers race and health equity, particularly for vulnerable populations in Burlington. The discussion focused on consideration of the Board’s tabling work planned for Juneteenth. Jenny added that she was available for tabling at the event. Burlington’s Juneteenth event will be on June 20th, where the BOH plans on tabling items including syringe cleanup tools, sunscreen and other items to be determined. At 6:15 pm Celia had technical problems and lost connection with the meeting. Jenny made a motion to allow Bianka to continue as the chair in Celia’s absence. Jane seconded it. Unanimous vote in favor. Celia returned to the meeting in the discussion of expenditures on tableting and she made a motion to allow Jenny to spend up to $500 on items to give away at Juneteenth. Bianka seconded the motion. Unanimous vote in favor. Bianka offered to help set up early and bring promotional materials. Bianka also suggested adding a blood pressure checking station staffed by a volunteer nurse, and she will check on availability of a nurse she knows. Bianka will participate until noon that day. Budget requests They decided to allocate $1,000 to CVOEO for translation services and $500 plus remaining balance from Juneteenth to the BTV cleanup crew. Chair Report Celia reported that she and Jenny had applied to be reappointed as Board of Health members. Emerging Issues Jenny and Bill discussed past experiences with the state approved permit for herbicide applications along the railroad tracks. In recent years the BOH posted notifications near railroad tracks in the form of caution signs in multiple languages. They will coordinate with each other to post the same signs this year on city property near the railroad crossings when the 48 hour notice is received from the contractor schedule to apply the herbicide. Public Outreach/Communications Jenny will coordinate with Bill on a FPF communication about the railroad herbicide permit issued by the State and the BOH caution signs. Adjournment The board discussed scheduling a meeting for June 24th.June 27th at 5:45 PM. Jenny made a motion to adjourn the meeting, 2nd by Kate Celia noted the meeting was adjourned at 6:39 p.m.