Board of Health

City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES Meeting call to Order @ 5:48PM Board President Christine Harris read the following Sunshine Law: This meeting, which conforms to the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act, Chapter 231, and Public Law of 1975 is a regular meeting of the City of East Orange Board of Health. Notices have been filed with our official newspaper, with the City Clerk and posted on regular bulletin boards. The public is permitted to participate at this meeting. After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Tobbia M. Corbitt Horace H. Henry Board Members Absent: Attorney Ryan Linder Reverend Jean Maurice Mayoral Staff/Health Department Staff/Animal Control: Victor Kuteyi, Health Officer Diashana Coleman, Administrative Clerk, Department of Heal Chesney Blue, WIC Coordinator Guest Speakers: None Public in attendance: None Approval of December 20, 2016 Meeting Minutes Updated subject to corrections approval will take place at the February 2017 meeting. Announcements President Harris stated she met with Director Johns on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 and discussed BOH activities and she is looking forward to attending the February meeting. Director Johns was informed about the 2 BOH vacancies positions that should be filled with interested people with health background. Director Johns and she will reach out to Councilmembers about filling their positions. President Harris asked Ms. Small to contact the Legal Department to inquire about legal counsel representation for the Health Department and to contact Chief of Staff Ayinde Martin regarding the status of BOH reappointments. pg. 1 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES President Harris thanked everyone for their support as Vice President of the New Jersey Local Board of Health Association (NJLBHA) and announced she will assume the office of the President of the NJLBHA effective January 2017. Her first President’s message will appear in the March 2017 Newsletter. The NJLBHA website is njlbha.org. She requested BOH members attend an executive board meeting in South Brunswick. President announced that VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Association) in conjunction with United Way will be offering free tax preparation for residents of the City of East Orange at East Orange General Hospital from January 23, 2017 thru April 18, 2017. Also, the Department of Licensing and Taxation as well as the Department of Property Maintenance are extending their operating hours on Monday from 8:30 am- 6:30pm to all East Orange residents. Additionally, there will be a Mentoring Summit at Cicely Tyson School on Saturday, January 21, 2017 from 12-3pm which is sponsored by the Department of Recreation. Updates Health Officer Kuteyi Staff- HO Kuteyi there are no new updates regarding staff. Conversation with Director Johns on the idea for using medical facilities for school-based service in Cicely Tyson School: HO Kuteyi stated he would be discussing this matter with Dir. Johns during the week. Status of the Mercantile license ordinance: HO Kuteyi stated he sent a draft copy to Atty. Linder with request for suggestions. Additionally, HO Kuteyi also submitted an ordinance for cosmetology, barbers, and braiding shops. President Harris suggested that tattoo parlors also to be included in the ordinance. HO Kuteyi responded he will include tattoo parlors and spas in the ordinance. Status of developing policy and procedure between Public Safety Department &HHS regarding issues of animal control and public health: HO Kuteyi stated that the health department would still be responsible for animal control issues pertaining to daily operations, inspections, dog bites and animal injuries. And that he will be sending inspectors to the animal shelter. Mr. Henry added that the Health Department will still have to be involved in the environmental aspect of the animal shelter. President Harris suggested to HO Kuteyi that he write policy and procedures specifying HD areas of responsibility. HO Kuteyi added he went online to check out the states regulations on animal control and the role of the health department pertaining to the animal shelter. The HD still has responsibility of dealing with dog bites, injuries, reporting illness to veterinary for the animal to be quarantined for rabies, which would get reported to Trenton. pg. 2 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES President Harris asked HO Kuteyi about the Animal Shelter violations. HO Kuteyi stated many of the violations have been addressed and they are working to correct the few violations remaining. DPW has been contacted to work on the continuous maintenance of the floor issue. President Harris commented that all the violations must be addressed and corrected before the transfer takes place. HO Kuteyi explained he has been working and reminding DPW to address these issues since October 2016. President Harris suggested that HO Kuteyi read and discuss the animal shelter department transfer under Ordinance 3 of 2017 from the Laws and Legislation committee headed by Councilwomen Alicia Holman with Dir. Johns for clarification. Status on crafting an ordinance regarding food display outside of grocery stores: HO Kuteyi reported the ordinance is in progress, however, in the interim he continues to visit stores daily and addresses issue with management that improperly displayed food items are brought back into the store. He stated they are continuing to comply with his request. Status of Health Department Accreditation: HO Kuteyi reported he received a call from Mr. John Festa, South Orange Health Officer who proposed a joint accreditation with the City of East Orange. President Harris asked if a joint accreditation is possible? HO Kuteyi explained according to the Accreditation Board it is possible as long as there are shared services involved. President Harris asked if the City of East Orange has shared services with South Orange. HO Kuteyi explained they have a shared service agreement for lead inspections and case management with South Orange. President Harris asked for clarification regarding how the Accreditation Board defines shared services and if there is a financial component. HO Kuteyi and Mr. Henry added there is not a financial component only a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the shared services. HO Kuteyi explained South Orange also refers there pediatric cases to East Orange and they are working on developing an MOU for that service. He added Mr. Festa suggested Maplewood to be included with the shared services since the two municipalities share many services already and it would be cost effective for all entities involved. HO Kuteyi stated the proposal from Mr. Festa prompted him to contact the accreditation organizations involved to research the possibility of the joint venture as well as the feasibility. President Harris inquired if the accreditation would listed under a singular license or singular certification numbers? HO Kuteyi responded it will be a joint listing. President Harris commented on the standardization of the service as well as the work involved in the process but praised him for the progress which is taking place on the matter. Also, President Harris asked HO Kuteyi about the deadline for filing the paperwork to declare that he is in the process. HO Kuteyi explained he is in the process of reaching out to PHAB office to have someone as a contact for pg. 3 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES assistance during the filing process. Additionally, HO Kuteyi stated the needs assessment is completed, as well as CHIP, departmental restructuring is taking place in the nursing department, environmental health and nutrition. He also stated once PHAB contacts him about the next step in the process there will be completion in many areas as well as resources. President Harris praised HO Kuteyi about his progress. Status of Ordinance on retail sale of electronic cigarettes, waxes, gels, etc and increase the purchase age to 21 for all smoking products: HO Kuteyi reported the ordinances are near completion and will be available at the February 2017 BOH meeting. He added that he had a phone conference with Ms. Blumenfeld from GASP who requested minor changes be made to the ordinance. Health Department Staff Updates: Ms. Chesney Blue, WIC Director: Ms. Blue reported WIC celebrated staff recognitions.  Breastfeeding increased by 5% which means 61% of the moms are breastfeeding per month  Farmers Market checks increased to 57% redemption rate in 2016 which means clients are using the checks they are being provided compared to 56% in 2015. Mrs. Corbitt inquired about the locations which WIC clients can use the vouchers. Ms. Blue explained the clients can use the vouchers at any certified farmers’ market in New Jersey and clients are provided with a list of locations. Additionally, an on-site farmer came to the WIC office and provided clients with produce which many WIC offices are doing. Ms. Blue explained the state is providing farmers grant money to purchase refrigerators to keep the produce fresh to store in the WIC offices. This service provides convenience for many WIC clients to get produce. Mrs. Corbitt asked how the BOH can get involved in requesting the Farmers Market back to the City of East Orange and if the farmers market is still through the Recreation Department. Ms. Coleman explained how the farmers market was a joint effort in the past between Director Evans and Mr. Edwards (Recreation Department) to bring the farmers market to East Orange. President Harris commented that she discussed Farmers Market with Dir. Johns who was very interested in it coming back to the City. Ms. Blue inquired about the process of obtaining an agreement for WIC to partner with various organizations. President Harris stated Attorney Linder will be consulted as BOH has never gone through that process. Ms. Blue explained the process entails reviewing the partnering group agreement to ensure there is not a conflict of interests and making sure the organization is on the city rolls. President Harris requested that Ms. Blue bring in the agreements for the BOH to review and advised that she follow-up with Dir. Johns, and HO Kuteyi. President Harris stated the BOH will definitely help with the process. Mrs. Corbitt pg. 4 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES asked for clarification of signing an MOU with the various groups as well as the role of the organizations and the resources they will provide to WIC. Ms. Blue responded yes that is what she is requesting plus the MOU clears the liability and clearly defines everyone’s role and responsibility. Food Handling Training: President Harris inquired about the food handling training. HO Kuteyi reported the ordinance is near completion. Also, Mr. Besra will be responsible for facilitating of the training. He stated they have the class materials and are researching the type of certification they will grant. Cost is suggested at $20.00 or $25.00, however, it will be based off the cost of materials and the determination of a renewal fee with training every 2-3 years. HO Kuteyi stated he is preparing the food vendors for the upcoming training and expects to have the training start in the next few months. Mr. Henry suggested establishing the class size to 25 trainees per class as well as inquiries about the training location and multiple sessions. HO Kuteyi commented they are considering multiple sessions to accommodate the over 100 food vendors throughout the City. President Harris asked if other municipalities will be included in the training. HO Kuteyi responded the training will only be for East Orange as other municipalities already trained their individual vendors. Mrs. Corbitt inquired about who will be expected to attend the training. HO Kuteyi responded that all food vendors who cook and serve food will be expected to attend. Mrs. Corbitt asked about new employee training after staff has been trained at an establishment. HO Kuteyi stated the ordinance has the stipulation of training within two months of being hired, during the employee probationary period as well as time for registering with the city. President Harris suggested that two weeks is a better time for training of new employees. Mr. Henry asked if there will be a clause in the ordinance which includes a penalty for the employer if the employee is not properly trained. HO Kuteyi stated they will be given a time period to register and receive certification. President Harris added penalties should be applied if the retailer has new hires that do not have current certification or training through the City of East Orange. President Harris inquired about who will be facilitating the trainings. HO Kuteyi responded with Mr. Besra, Howard Ray and Thomas Orenga will facilitate the trainings. He also stated that he would like to hire a per diem staff to assist with the cosmetology and barber shop inspections. Cosmetology Ordinances: President Harris asked about beauty shop fines and license renewal. HO Kuteyi responded it will based upon the ordinance which could be up to $1,000.00. Additionally, he has developed a separate ordinance for beauty shops, barber salons, nail salons and braiding shops. Mr. Henry asked HO Kuteyi if he did cost analysis for the various ordinances. HO Kuteyi responded he worked on a cost analysis for the retail food in 2016 and grossed almost $20,000 dollars on retail foods, $14,000 dollars from court fines and $15,000 dollars pg. 5 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 JANUARY 20, 2017 MEETING MINUTES from vital statistics. He added there are approximately 100 individuals, some have expired licenses and about 60 who have paid active licenses. He cited the City of Orange charges $150 dollars for licensing and he is looking into the feasibility of equal cost for East Orange. HO Kuteyi added the braiding shops are not licensed by the state but would like the ordinance to address the issue. President Harris commented on beauty supply stores offering beauty shop services without a license should be addressed in the ordinances as well as employment verification. HO Kuteyi stated he has a form which will address employee status for the cosmetology vendors. Mrs. Corbitt asked about Blue Laws particularly for shops operating beyond business hours. HO Kuteyi stated he will look into the matter. Mrs. Corbitt cited examples of Blue Laws in various counties in New Jersey. HO Kuteyi cited examples of businesses in the city which have violated operating hours and are open illegally which are reported and fined. Live Stock in residential areas: President Harris inquired about residents having live stock in residential areas. Mr. Henry asked HO Kuteyi if was aware if East Orange had a noise limit ordinance. HO Kuteyi stated there is currently not a noise limit ordinance but is trying to work out the best option for the city which is prohibiting or regulating. Mr. Henry stated that under a nuisance ordinance live stocker owners can be prosecuted for noise, odor, and disease transmission. HO Kuteyi stated the challenge he is encountering are people citing state regulations which allow them to keep their livestock, however, an ordinance can be designed off the state regulations which frames the parameters for having live stock in residential areas. Mr. Henry asked what the state regulations entail regarding live stock in residential areas. HO Kuteyi responded the state regulations mention the diameter of the coop, number of livestock a person can have, distance from the residence, design of coop, what the floor should look like thus if the conditions are met the resident can maintain the livestock however the City can design an ordinance which prohibits live stock in residential areas. President Harris asked if the regulations specify rural or urban communities for residential live stock. HO Kuteyi stressed the importance of having an ordinance which states the prohibition of livestock in residential areas of East Orange. President Harris stated to HO Kuteyi to research state law on the issue. Adjournment Board President Harris requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion made by board member Henry and seconded by board member Corbitt. The Meeting was adjourned at 7:38 pm. Submitted by, Sala S. Small Recording Clerk pg. 6