Board of Health

Easthampton Board of Health Meeting Minutes July 10, 2024 50 Payson Ave., Easthampton, MA 01027 PRESENT: Beth Rist (BR), Aimee Petrosky (AP) interim chair, Jackie Sienkiewicz (JS), recorder. Absent: None Also Present: Hunter Pelkey (HP), Liz Plouffe (LP), Christine Southworth (CS), Lindsi Sekula (LS), Donna Bowman (DB), Merridith O’Leary (MO), Dennis LaCourse (DL), James Channing (JC), Beth Tiffany, Paul Davis Meeting held remotely by Google Meet. Motions A motion to open the meeting at 5:30 PM was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0. Vote was taken by roll call. Public Speak: None ● Approve Meeting Minutes from June 12, 2024: A motion to accept the meeting minutes of May 8, 2024, was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0, Vote was taken by roll call. ● Health Agent Update: Health Agent Update is attached. Technical difficulties prevented DL from reporting directly. A motion to go out of order was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0, Vote was taken by roll call. ● Mayor’s Office Update: LS stated the position for the Health Director was now posted. LS also said that the grant for the EHYC would be ending at the end of September. The grant that was submitted to continue to fund the EHYC was not granted. A new BOH member has been submitted to City Council for approval. A motion to pause the BOH meeting and open the tobacco violation hearing with the Pioneer Valley Tobacco Coalition for Pride was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0, Vote was taken by roll call. MO introduced herself as the Coordinator for the Pioneer Valley Tobacco Coalition and DB as the compliance officer who did the compliance check at the Pride store on May 19, 2024. JC was recognized from the Pride store. JC asked for clarification on the original citation also including Valley Farms, which was a clerical error. MO cited the state law, section 105. 665-045 defines for selling to a minor for the first offense, is a thousand dollars. And in section 105. 665-040,, section D, there is a suspension of the permit for a period of between 1 30 days for the first offense. Since Easthampton has not codified an amount, the BOH can pick a suspension period. AP stated that a new violation notice would be sent out with just the Pride name and violations on it. JC questioned the local BOH tobacco regulations being up to date with regards to fines and suspensions as the state. JC stated that it did not appear that the 2018 regulations were up to date so the fines would not apply as stipulated. MO clarified that state regulation superseded local regulations and even if the local regs were not as of yet updated since this was a violation of a state laws, not local. JC also questioned the suspension starting at zero rather than 1. MO read the state regulations regarding the suspension of the permit, stressing the term “shall be suspended” being used. A motion to fine Pride one thousand dollars per state law, plus one hundred dollars per local law and also to suspend all tobacco sales for a period of three days starting July 30, 2024 was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0, Vote was taken by roll call. A motion was made by BR and seconded by AP to close the Pride tobacco hearing and reopen the BOH meeting. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0, Vote was taken by roll call. . ● Social Services Update: LP presented the Social Services update, see attached. LP discussed the upcoming Veteran’s cookout at Nonotuck Park on July 21, 2024 and the Overdose Awareness Vigil on August 26, 2024 at Millside Park. LP also mentioned the start of Tapestry in Easthampton. LP stressed the value of having the mobile van in Easthampton since so many residents use it. ● Public Health Nurse Update: CS presented her update, see attached. CS discussed the summer camp inspections as well foodborne and tick-borne illnesses and dog/cat bites. ● Healthy Youth Update: HP presented the update, see attached. HP discussed the upcoming Battle of the Bands on July 20th. HP presented a slideshow, see attached, to educate on youth using flavored tobacco. HP discussed Kratom and the regulations in area BOH and how to proceed going forward with Easthampton adopting these regulations. Items not reasonably anticipated by the chair 48 hours in advance of the Board of Health meeting: JS shared the concerns DL was having since DL was unable to interact with the BOH due to technical difficulties, concerning getting authorization from the BOH regarding orders he wanted to issue. The BOH stated that DL was an agent of the Board and did not need to run things past the Board. The BOH discussed changing the dates for future meetings. JS discussed the Pond Steering Committee concerns with the signs advising of a possible algea bloom when there is not actually one. The email from Beth  was read into the record, see attached. BOH said they will continue to side with the DEP guidelines. A motion to close the meeting at 6:30 PM was made by BR and seconded by AP. All in favor – 2, Opposed – 0. Vote taken by roll call. NEXT MEETING: TBA