Board of Health

EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 MEETING MINUTES Meeting Call to Order – 5:38 PM 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. Zoom Communication ID: 868 8814 9815 Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86504615625?pwd=c0ZDOWFCS0xMMHJqcUF1bC9sbkVRZz09 After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Tobbia M. Corbitt, Vice-President Deanna Phillips Angela Jones-Williams Dr. Tonya X. Cook Council Liaison: Mustafa Al-M. Brent - absent Board of Health Counsel: Attorney Emeka Madubuogo Health Department Staff: Yvonne Blake, Acting HHS Director Health Officer Vincent DeFilippo, Orange Mayoral Staff: Jada Braime-Butler pg. 1  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 Guests: None Public in attendance: None Approval of July 18, 2023, Meeting Minutes: Approved Unanimously Director Blake Updates: FileBank President Harris shared that she heard there was some resolution to the FileBank matter and that they would continue their service. Dir. Blake stated she did not have additional information regarding FileBank and directed the Board to speak with Mr. Steplight and Ms. Gallagher. Dir. Blake explained that recently, the City Council passed and rescinded the resolution. Pres. Harris shared her understanding, per Ms. Gallagher, that the City would be willing to put forth the $100+ thousand necessary to initiate File Bank's contract, and that the City would be reimbursed within 30 to 60 days, once reports and documentation had been submitted to NJACCHO. HO DeFilippo reiterated that there has been a continued back and forth regarding the reimbursement issue and that Dir. Blake has tried to resolve the issues. Pres. Harris asked if we had received the computer equipment requested. HO DeFilippo stated he does not believe we received any of the equipment. President Harris expressed frustration with our inability to get things resolved and stated she wanted to request a meeting with the Mayor, Mr. Steplight, Ms. Gallagher, and Legal to find solutions. Attorney Madubuogo shared that the File Bank resolution for the Health Department passed approximately three weeks ago and that the contract has been signed and fully executed. Attorney Madubuogo stated Dir. Blake can follow up with File Bank for the next steps. VP Corbitt asked where the flow is that the information is not translated back to the director, making her aware that her items have been completed. Attorney Madubuogo explained Legal's role in processing legislation. Attorney Madubuogo shared that when the Legal department drafts the contract, it is signed; it becomes a law with the City. Many people ensure the process is complete. Because once it goes off to the City Council and is signed, it is our understanding that our job is done. But many things fell through the cracks regarding File Bank and WinWam, and Director Blake's been working hard to get that out. Now that we have confirmation that it is done, we could start implementing better policies to move those along. President Harris asked Attorney Madubuogo who is responsible for making the Directors aware their legislation has been passed. Attorney Madubuogo replied the flow is as follows: the pg. 2  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 department has mixed the packet for the legislation that includes contracts. If there are not any, the legal department will draft the contract resolution and send us approval. Any documents come through after it has already been approved by procurement, and Ms. Gallagher usually sends a certificate of funds. It will come to me or someone from my department. We will sign off on it. It then goes back to the committee so it can be discussed in committee, and if it passes, that department then forms a resolution for it to be signed by Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Steplight and then signed by Legal. Legal would then pass it back to the department to the City Council. It is generally off my desk once it goes to the City Council. But it was pulled from the City Council, and many things happened. Attorney Madubuogo shared there were many things that he was not privy to regarding this matter. So, moving forward, we could close out File Bank and WinWam. Based on what Attorney Madubuogo shared, President Harris surmised that the business administration knows everything has been done and is acceptable to proceed. It is just a matter now of finance processing the POs. HO DeFilippo stated that he would find out tomorrow the status of the POs. President Harris asked if Director Blake was aware of any additional outstanding POs and Dir. Blake stated she had not seen any. Dir. Blake shared that Mr. Talib Aquil has been assigned as the intermediary for Mr. Steplight, and Mr. Aquil has asked her questions regarding the grant funding. Dir. Blake shared that Mr. Steplight reached out to NJACCHO to gain clarity on the grant funding. HO DeFilippo stated we can do the easy things first since we have FileBank, WinWam, and others. HO DeFilippo mentioned he would begin obtaining the computer equipment. Dir. Blake shared she had already sent emails asking for the computers and had yet to receive a response. The lack of updated tech currently hinders our ability to do assessments and evaluations required by different sections of the State and other government agencies. This grant money is to be used just for the infrastructure of the Health Department. Grants Director Blake stated she sent information to the Board regarding the Health and Human Services grant. If the Board does not have a copy, she will resend the information. President Harris asked, what is the deadline for spending the NJACCHO grant money? Dir. Blake stated we must spend the $1.6 million received by June 24, 2024. Dir. Blake shared concerns regarding closing grants by the requested November 15th date. President Harris stated that the termination date of a grant is always specific, and Dir. Blake concurred. Dr. Cook inquired who asked for the budget shutdown to include grant funding. Dir. Blake shared that the directive came from Ms. Gallagher. Dr. Cook stated she believes the Federal and State regulations supersede Municipal regulations and should be discussed during our meeting with the Administration. pg. 3  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 VP Corbitt suggested Mr. Aquil be included in the meeting since he acts as the intermediary for Mr. Steplight. Ms. Braime-Butler shared that she was advised that Mr. Aquil is a part of the Mayor's office, and he is supposed to create a system to make City Hall more organized. So, he is focusing on creating systems and processes to help improve the City's organization and monitoring grants and things like that to ensure we are spending the money. President Harris remarked that it sounds like a position more than just an intermediary between two people. It sounds like he is a BA, grant fund coordinator, and everything else. Ms. Braime-Butler shared Mr. Aquil is a former BA for the Township of Wayne. Ms. Braime-Butler stated she would speak with the Mayor's secretary to set up the meeting as soon as possible. Health Department Budget Pres. Harris asked if Dir. Blake had an opportunity to review her budget. Dir. Blake stated her budget is in front of her. Dir. Blake stated that she would send the Board a copy of the budget, which ends on December 31, 2023. LHCHH Relocation & Updates President Harris asked if the LHCHH program had been relocated. Dir. Blake stated that this program has relocated to Grove Street. Pres. Harris asked how the old space is being utilized. Dir. Blake stated the Administration has plans to use the space, although she has yet to be made aware of the details of those plans. Director Blake shared there were other computer service problems on the second and third floors since the relocation of Mr. Salaam's LHCHH Program, but they are being fixed. In the meantime, we have identified quite a few houses with lead exposure. We have the contractors, and the bids are complete. Again, we will need the Board's assistance to ensure we can process the Reqs and POs promptly and efficiently. Dir. Blake shared that during the last process of giving HUD our proposed budget, our last award was for $3.6 million. Ms. Brown, head of HUD, called us three weeks ago to congratulate us on our new award amount of $4.8 million. Ms. Brown was impressed by how much we fought as a Minority community to keep the program afloat and shared plans to visit our City. Dir. Blake shared that Ms. Brown will advise us of the new protocols allowing us to replace the windows in homes we remediate. Health Department Open Positions President Harris asked if there was an update regarding hiring for the Director, Health Officer, and Grant Coordinator positions. Dir. Blake stated she does not have an update. HO DeFilippo stated that Ms. Tameka and Dir. Blake have not been compensated for their efforts. VP Corbitt and Board members expressed frustration with the lack of compensation and suggested this also be discussed during the meeting with the Administration. pg. 4  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 Fentanyl & Xylazine - New Drug Dir. Blake shared that the zombie drug Fentanyl has replaced heroin in the streets. Most of our clients are testing more for Fentanyl than heroin. And we have this new zombie drug, which combines Fentanyl and Xylazine. Once ingested, this new drug is hazardous as one part of the body shuts down. Amputation may be a factor, with the person's life expectancy dropping to approximately six months. The Narcan is working on some, but we have to get them to the emergency room. We have a meeting in Hudson County and other treatment facilities to determine how to address it. New York is giving out the fentanyl testing and the Narcan; they do not know what to do with this third one. So, as a treatment facility, do we encourage fentanyl testing strips when trying to get them off the drugs? While we want them to stop doing the drug, will we be giving them an invitation to go from heroin to Fentanyl, as a part of the new treatment? So, the new focus is on how to incorporate treatment without encouraging drug use. President Harris asked if there was an antidote for this new drug. Dir. Blake stated that Narcan is supposed to operate as an antidote, but the drug is Narcan-resistant. They cannot resuscitate individuals who overdose until they arrive at the ER. President Harris shared the story of a one-year-old who died after accidental exposure to the drug at a day-care center. Opiate Settlement Dir. Blake shared they received approximately $480,000 from the opiate settlement, where the government went against the pharmaceuticals for oxycodone, and the State of New Jersey received perhaps the only treatment facility run by the Municipality where it is located. So, we are now deciding how to utilize the funds for our community. Chief REHS Updates: Rodent Mitigation President Harris asked Chief Henry for an update regarding the rodent mitigation. Chief Henry shared that he and Nurse Karen canvased the targeted areas and noted the signs of infestations. Chief Henry explained that Rutgers Agriculture Division has a program we can integrate to attack this issue. We hope to partner with them as they have the funding, resources, and staffing to deal with this problem. President Harris asked for a brief idea of what they planned to do. Chief Henry stated he has yet to have an opportunity to meet with them, but this is something that they would have done in other places. Once we have additional details, a full report will be shared with the Board and City Council. Environmental Inspections Chief Henry shared we continue to do our food inspections, coupled with the vast number of complaints that we receive. Sometimes, the complaints overlap with Code Enforcement, and we do joint visits. So far, we have been doing well addressing and closing out the complaints. Not like in previous times. Dir. Blake has discussed modeling our operations after Code pg. 5  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 Enforcement by assigning our inspectors to each of the City's five wards. Chief Henry stated he has been looking at the ward maps, which are workable. When we go out, we see all the various environmental health conditions, situations in the community itself, and even some of these homes, and we realize that there is more than enough for us to do. So, as a part of restructuring and development, which is the direction we will be going very soon. We will need, at minimum, two more inspectors because we have a fast-growing community. As the population increases, public health and environmental issues will be increasing. President Harris remarked that it sounds like a great program. And there is enough work for each person in each ward to keep them fully occupied. Dir. Blake shared a discussion with Chief Henry about the ward rotation of our officers to keep it fair. Also, the officers should be flexible with emergency calls. As far as overtime goes, we will have to discuss that also. We just have to ensure that while they are where they need to be. President Harris asked if there was an application that could be utilized to update all the information from your REHS inspections. Chief Henry stated that it was a mobile component of the WinWam software. Salary Advancements Dir. Blake asked Chief Henry to share news regarding the salary increase for the Environmentalists. Chief Henry shared that under the State of New Jersey, there is a clause that if you are in a position for five years and after five years if your performance evaluations have been good and you are in good standing, it says that you should be at the maximum of your pay scale. Now, that was not happening for the inspectors. We have one inspector going into his 11th year and still at the bottom of the pay ladder. Fast forward, one inspector went solo and negotiated his way through. His salary was bumped even above my salary, and the director was asked to sign the PAF, which she refused as she wanted to include the other inspectors who fell into the same category. Chief Henry relayed to the Board the conversations he had with HR trying to make the pay bump a reality. President Harris commended Chief Henry and Director Blake for getting that accomplished. Pres. Harris asked if he was able to get payment retroactively for all the years they did not reach the maximum. Chief Henry shared that the REHS' told me they received their retroactive money. President Harris asked if Chief Henry was being paid more than the individuals he supervised. Chief Henry stated he is paid less than the people he supervises. President Harris stated that is an issue that has to be adjusted. The subordinate cannot make more than the supervisor. Chief Henry stated that a document was sent to correct the discrepancy. President Harris stated these nuances need to be worked out regarding salaries to keep us competitive before new REHS staff is onboarded. COVID Chief Henry shared they reviewed our COVID-19 protocol, which went through several vetting processes. Director Blake released it yesterday, and every department within the Municipality pg. 6  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 got a bag this morning with the protocol and some COVID tests based on the number of staff they have in their department. The COVID and medical clinic teams have been doing an excellent job. During one of the team's outreach sessions at a school, several children, staff, and parents received their COVID-19 vaccines during their physicals. The clientele followed up and made appointments with the HD clinic for other vaccinations. President Harris remarked that it sounded good and was glad the children received their examinations and vaccinations. Attorney Madubuogo Updates: Tobacco Products & E-Cigarettes President Harris asked for an update regarding electronic cigarettes, flavored products, hookah parlors, and all the other nonsensical stores that are popping up all over the City that are advertising to young children. Attorney Madubuogo reiterated that he has no updates as this is currently managed by Corporate Counsel, Mr. Hunt, and our co-counsel, Ms. Matos, whom the City hired to manage tobacco and e-cigarettes. Pres. Harris asked for clarity regarding this. Attorney Madubuogo shared that Ms. Matos oversees everything involving the City regarding cannabis and tobacco products. President Harris asked if Mr. Hunt could attend a meeting to discuss this further. Attorney Madubuogo stated he would formulate an email between the Board and all pertinent parties regarding e-cigarettes and tobacco. President Harris shared that the item has been on the agenda for years and stated the City needs to catch up on the collection of fines with a proper ordinance in place. HO DeFilippo shared the fines that Orange collects for their Municipality related to tobacco, barbershops, hair, and nail salons and detailed their inspection process. WIC Updates: Telephone Repairs & New Lease President Harris asked for an update regarding the telephone wiring at WIC, as discussed at the last Health & Education meeting. Ms. Blue stated no wiring was done at the WIC facility. Ms. Blue stated the Legal Department was working on a new lease for our office, which included fixing up some things in the office. President Harris asked whether those things were fixed. Ms. Blue stated not yet. Ms. Blue is unaware if the new lease has been executed, which would be necessary before any work begins. Ms. Blue also shared she is not ready for any work to begin as she still has a full office and would need to provide accommodation for her staff. Dir. Blake shared that she requested to update WIC's telephone system so she and her team can deliver optimum service. Currently, WIC operates with only one telephone number, which can be difficult with a heavy caseload. Open Discussion: HD Supervisor’s Participation in BOH Meetings President Harris asked if all supervisors could participate in the BOH meetings. Chief Henry stated that during his meeting today with the Clinical staff, he asked if Dr. Kamara could attend the meetings. Their presence would allow the supervisors to explain what they are pg. 7  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 September 19, 2023 doing, what they have done, and what they propose. The meeting invite has been extended to all supervisors, but if anyone needs to be added, their information can be shared with Secretary Lowe. Garbage Disposal Protocols VP Corbitt asked what the protocol is for garbage bags placed on the streets instead of inside garbage receptacles for apartment buildings and retail stores. Chief Henry shared that the garbage, rubbish, and refuse should be contained in such a way that rats and animals do not have access to it. So, it should be in a container to protect or prevent the vermin and the otherwise intruders from getting in. Chief Henry shared that the Mayor of New York has implemented protocols stipulating every restaurant must put garbage in a metal bin that has a cover. With restaurants depending on the size of the restaurant, a dumpster may be optional. The HD must review the building, the food flow, and the floor plans of these food places so we can vet them before construction. But with the big apartment buildings, as far as trash is concerned, some of that household garbage contains food waste. People are throwing out food in those trash bags. So, what could occur is as the tenants discard their garbage bags, they go and double bag them in the large heavy-duty plastic garbage bags, and then throw them out. But that's still baiting rodents and other animals because you are still putting those plastic bags out on the street, and piling them up. The main issue lies with space. Some of these buildings were constructed 50-plus years ago, so space was not outlined for trucks to collect the trash from garbage receptacles at the rear of the buildings. With all of the new construction, we ensure appropriate accommodations for trash receptacles have been implemented into the construction plans and that there is adequate space for cleaning the receptacles where any waste will not spill out into the street. Dir. Blake suggested that they may need to review the existing ordinance regarding garbage disposal and make suggestions to upgrade the existing protocols. President Harris suggested that Chief Henry could propose these changes with Code Enforcement due to his close working relationship. Chief Henry shared that he would do that as there have been lots of changes in businesses, and they need to understand how the City operates and how to dispose of their garbage properly and utilize whatever space they need to do it. At the conclusion of Board business, President Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:48 pm. Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Lowe Board Clerk pg. 8