Board of Health

Easthampton Board of Health Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 50 Payson Ave., Easthampton, MA 01027 PRESENT: Maggie Hebert (MH), Beth Rist (BR), Bri Eichstaedt (BE), Health Director, Jackie Sienkiewicz (JS), Recorder. Absent: Aimee Petrosky Also Present: Scott Callahan (SC), Loren Davine (LD), Allison Willette (AW), Josh Suchoza (JS), Mike Dobbs. Meeting held in person and audio recorded. Motions A motion to open the meeting at 5:30 PM, was made by BR and seconded by MH. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0. Vote was taken by roll call. March A motion to approve the meeting minutes for February 22, 2022 and March 15, 2022 was made by BR and seconded by MH. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0. Vote was taken by roll call. Public Speak: SC, a resident of Easthampton, started by stating that he believed that meetings were to be hybrid, in person and remote, but was unable to find a link to connect via Zoom. SC noted the agenda item concerning an Open Meeting Law violation. SC stated that he did file a complaint regarding recordings of Open Meetings as well as one regarding signatures on certifications that appear to be missing with the BOH. SC stated the Easthampton Board of Health is operating in violation of Mass General Law due to the lack of a physician on the Board. SC stated that there could not be a Board of Health and a Health Department. SC said that he would be filing a complaint with the state attorney general regarding these violations. SC said that he had brought these points up at previous BOH meetings. ● Loren Davine-Update on Hampshire County Public Health Collaborative grant: LD introduced herself to the BOH and gave a brief breakdown of what these agencies do. LD spoke about the agencies emergency preparedness, including emergency sheltering and dispensing. LD mentioned that BE was a Board member of the MRC, Medical Reserve Corp and member of the Coalition with serves nearing 20 towns in Hampshire County. LD announced that the City of Northampton had applied and received the Public Health  Excellence Grant and was making this available to all Hampshire County towns, to which, Easthampton had signed on. This is a long-term grant. LD stated that Mass General Laws state that each Health Department must meet certain levels of service, but with current funding, few departments can meet that demand. COVID-19 certainly brought that to the forefront. LD said that this funding would provide training and support to help communities offer more public health service. Each community would dictate what they needed. LD discussed different resources that would be available. LD said that while these services were highlighted in the first phase of the grant, the next phase would concern inspection service, including camps, housing and septic. AW, Public Health Nurse for Northampton discussed her recent outing to a senior center. AW said that the residents were happy to have their blood pressures taken and hoped to see her again. A1C, ticks and vaccines were other topics that could be arranged at Council on Aging events and other public events such as the Farmer’s Market. ● Josh Suchoza, owner of Black Labyrinth, request to amend Section 15 (Apprenticeship Standards) and Section 16 (Trainer Standards) of the City of Easthampton Regulations for Body Art Establishments: JS stated that now that his establishment was two years into having an apprentice tattoo artist, a couple of things have come to his attention. JS stated that the regulations state that only one apprentice shall be trained in a three-year period. JS said that he would like to see this changed. JS said that finding qualified artists at this time was difficult and being able to add to the number of apprentices trained would be helpful to staff his studio. BE explained that there would need to be a hearing prior to any changes made and that other local tattoo establishments would need to be informed as well. BE said that she would do some research to see what other communities in MA have for these regulations. JS also stated that the existing regulations state that an apprentice is not allowed to be paid until they have completed 4040 hours of training. MH said that clarification of the language will need to be made and should be added to the next agenda. ● Discuss updating Regulations for Refuse Collection, Mandatory Recycling & Hauler Permitting & complaints received regarding early morning trash removal: BE and the Board discussed the complaints received by the office in the last two years, including pick-ups as early as 3:30 AM. BE said that the current regulations were outdated and needed to be updated. BE said that a time frame could be added to the regulations. BE explained the process needed, including a public hearing. ● Discuss Open Meeting complaint received: BE informed the Board that a complaint has been filed with the Attorney General’s office concerning Open Meeting Laws. The complaint was distributed to Board members. MH stopped at this point to inform SC, who had questioned the hybrid meeting format earlier in public speak time, that not all City meetings would be offered as a hybrid. MH referenced the City press release stating which committee and boards would be hybrid. The Board of Health was not on the list.  ● Set permanent meeting time: The BOH discussed new times for the monthly meeting due to changes in schedules of the current Board members. The first Wednesday of the month at 6:00 PM has been decided. ● Update from Health Director: BE discussed the upcoming Covid-19 vaccine clinic on April 13, 2022 in the parking lot of 50 Payson Ave. BE updated the BOH about the mandatory training that camps were required to have before submitting permits this year. BE discussed the Narcon boxes, provided by the Easthampton Healthy Youth Coalition, Easthampton Health Department and Hampshire Hope, that were going to be placed in certain City buildings. Trainings are being offered to City employees on how to use the Narcon. BE informed the BOH that Bridget Diggins, the Public Health nurse would be offering CPR training to City employees. BE also said that Bridget would also be visiting the Council on Aging as part of an outreach to residents. BE informed the BOH that a complaint was received from the Easthampton Police Department concerning the sale of THC Zero at Valley Farms. Upon investigation with MDAR, BE found that the products were illegal and said that she would be visiting the store to make sure the products were removed from the premises. A motion to close the meeting at 6:38 PM was made by BR and seconded by MH. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0. Vote taken by roll call. NEXT MEETING SCHEDULED May 4, 2022 AT 6:00.