Board of Health

October 15, 2015 An organizational meeting was held at 5:00 p.m. Present were: Ian Murray, Chairman; John Bogdasarian, M.D. Member; Sandra Knipe, R.N. B.S.N. Member; Stephen Curry, Director; Matthew Bernard, Sanitary Inspector, Jack Malone, Ducharme & Dillis; Cindy Killelea, Resident Appoint Sanitary Inspector: Our Director introduced the new Sanitary Inspector, Matthew Bernard. Mr. Bernard started the position on September 28, 2015. He has been active inspecting abandoned buildings and curbside violations. He is a Fitchburg resident and talked a little about his back ground. Sandra Knipe made a motion to accept the appointment of Matthew Bernard as Sanitary Inspector. Dr. John Bogdasarian seconded the motion. Local Upgrade Approval for 617 Fisher Road: The house is for sale and has a failed septic system. Testing was done in August 2015. Mr. Maloney is asking for two local upgrade approvals. The plan has been amended per request of the Health staff. They were at the property today per request of the Health Department. They located the edge of the intermittent stream and there is a small patch of wetlands with a high spot that runs in between. Mr. Maloney is showing a revised 50 foot and a revised 100 foot buffer. There is some grading that falls within the 100 foot buffer. The system still remains outside the 100 feet. He will be going before the conservation committee on October 27, 2015. Estimated seasonal high ground water on the first test hole site was estimated at 34 inches and visual ground water at 87”. The second test hole has no visual standing ground water. Two test holes were dug, one in the upper area beyond the existing system. They were hoping to remove and replace the existing system and keep the yard as is without having a mound. That wasn’t possible so a hole was dug downhill a ways. From the side yard the area remains the same until you turn the corner. Once the fill and septic system is put in, the yard will more level and then a drop off on a 3 to 1 slope toward the back and left side of the property. The grading will blend in better in the back yard. The property has city water and the system is designed for four bedrooms. There are two culverts that come from across the street. In August, Mr. Maloney took pictures uphill from the culverts and both streams were dry; both streams are dry today. Water in the stream bank today is caused by the City. There is water coming from a steel pipe which is connected to the water system in the street. Opposite of where the pipe comes out there is a shut off valve. It’s a gate valve that the City uses to reduce sediment in the lines. The two local upgrade approvals can be granted by the Board without going through a variance process under 310 CMR 15.405. One is to reduce the depth to ground water table from 4 feet to 3 feet. The reason for asking from 4 feet to 3 feet is to make sure that the fill and grading are kept on the lot without having to use retaining walls. The other approval is the separation from 12 inches to less than 12 inches for the inlet and outlet of the tank. That number is based on the assumed elevation of the estimated water table. Sandra Knipe made a motion to approve the local upgrade to reduce the depth of ground water from 4 feet to 3 feet. Ian Murray seconded the motion. Sandra Knipe made a motion to reduce the 12 inch separation from the inlet and outlet of the septic tank to less than 12 inches. Ian Murray seconded the motion. Mr. Curry suggested putting a condition that the tank is made as water tight as possible. Mr. Maloney also submitted buoyancy calculations in the event that something happens, the tank would be in ground water. Accept Minutes of September 03, 2015 Meeting: Ian Murray has an issue with the minutes. He quoted Sgt. Jackson on hearsay in a discussion about Narcan. The Board agreed to take out Sgt. Jackson and replace it with “The Police fear is that users will push it to the limit because of Narcan”. Dr. Bogdasarian made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Sandra Knipe seconded the motion. MAHB Conference: Ian Murray will be attending the conference this year. Our Director let the board members know if they wanted to attend we would sign them up. Dr. Bogdasarian will be out of the country at that time. Sandra Knipe will pass on the conference this year as well as Mr. Curry. Annual Report 2014: The front page explains the function of the Health Department and the Board of Health. The report includes communicable disease for 2014 which included 223 diseases. The bulk of the communicable diseases is Hepatitis C. Also included are Influenza, Lyme disease, suspect Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola) and Measles. The nurse monitored and inspected four body art establishments and ten body art practitioners. The food and milk inspector’s report and sanitary inspectors’ reports for 2014 have already been approved. Also included in the report is information about the recycle coordinator. There are statistics on certain trash routes, how many people are in the households and how many people do not recycle on a particular route. Our Board as well as Council adopted a new ordinance for mandatory recycling. The landfill was permitted for 390,000 tons per year; the landfill only took in 224,000 tons. Basically it extends the life of the landfill beyond 2025. The landfill produced revenue around two million dollars. Our Director discussed the 2014 grants which included the regionalization grant, opioid prevention grant, the health foundation grant which helped with the Kiosks for sharps and medications in every town in the regionalization, the CHNA 9 grant which was for stroke prevention, and a number of mini grants used for training purposes as well as helping with the kiosks in all the communities. In 2014, the Board updated the workplace and public places smoking law, as well as the restriction for the sales of tobacco and nicotine delivery products. Our Director talked about the public health events, medication take back and the ward cleanups in the city. Also included in the 2014 report is what the Montachusett Public Health Network did as a collaborative. Sandra Knipe made a motion to approve the 2014 Annual Report. Ian Murray seconded the motion. The Nurse’s report for September 2015 was accepted as presented. Well Regulations & Permitting Discussion: Our Director thinks it is a good idea that the Board adopt some type of regulation for wells. It is hard to keep track of homes that are built on the outskirts of the city. Mr. Curry would like to proceed carefully and will ask assistance from the DEP to help the Board write the regulation. The DEP does have drinking water standards as a guideline. A permit and review process will help to oversee the well drilling reports. DEP Recycling Dividends Grant: The Recycle Coordinator could not spend time in the schools per the DEP recycling grant. The grant was more geared toward residential curbside recycling. Another grant was submitted for funding for 20-30 hours a week for school recycling. Last year the health department received $6,600 from the DEP recycling dividends grant program. This money has standards and criteria that must be met. It is based on our solid waste program which has expanded. This year the health department will receive $19,000. The Board can decide what to do with the money such as compost bins, carts for curbside collection, roll off containers or an enforcement coordinator. There are a list of options on what is approved to spend the funds on. The big push is for organics as the DEP rewards those communities heavily for separating it from the trash. Ticket Hearing Process Discussion: Our Director has talked with the legal team regarding this process. He proposed having a hearing officer listen to the complaints. The legal team suggested that the Board listen to the ticket hearings. A person has twenty one days to appeal a ticket from date of issue. People have to appeal to the Court Magistrate of the Worcester County Housing Court. It’s not user friendly and the ticket fee is negotiated. Mr. Curry stated that the health department issues between 5-10 tickets per month with approximately 1-2 appeals. Most tickets are ignored until the department chases the defendants. Tickets are issued for curbside violations such as carts at curb 24/7, trash & bulk items at curb and illegal dumping. Mr. Murray asked what position the Board would be in as supplemental enforcement. Mr. Curry responded that the Board would act much like the magistrate of the court. The Board would hear the alleged offender and make a decision; that decision would be final. The alleged offender then would have to appeal to the appropriate court. It would take the chase away from the health department and puts it on the offender thus streamlining the process. If the Board made the ticket final, the offender has the right to appeal. If payment wasn’t made within the time frame, our Director is working on reporting to the Registry of Motor Vehicles through the tax collector. Sandra Knipe asked if a lien could be placed on the property. Mr. Curry responded that we do not lien for tickets but we do lien for costs incurred when the Department does the required work after the owner fails to comply with BOH orders. Dr. Bogdasarian asked if interest could also be charged. Our Director responded that 6% interest could also be tagged on a lien but not a ticket. The discussion on the ticket hearing process will be back on a future agenda. Vacant, Foreclosing, Foreclosed Property Registration & Permit Fee Discussion: In 2012, this Board adopted regulations which states: If you own an abandoned, vacant, foreclosed or foreclosing property it must be registered with the City of Fitchburg, BOH. There is a registration form and a $100 registration fee. The City makes approximately $30,000 per year to the general fund. There is a law that once the fee goes into the general fund it cannot be changed. If the fee were to be increased we could start a new fund. Our Director is working with a couple of city councilors who support this. The first $100 would go into the general fund; anything above that could go into a revolving fund that is used for a specific purpose. Our Director feels that because the Board already adopted the property registration, the BOH should control it, they can adjust it and it’s an easy fix and just have the Council approve the fee. Only the Council can develop a revolving fund. The Board discussed charging a new fee and will continue discussions at the next meeting to include the law department. Water Quality Report & Certificate: The BOH received its yearly certificate from the Centers for Disease Control, basically to congratulate the DPW water division and Health Department for putting Fluoride in the City’s drinking water. To date it is still one of the ten public health innovations in the last one hundred years. The Water department is not excited about fluoride. It is hazardous and is dangerous in large amounts. According to Dr. Bogdasarian there is an ear disease called otosclerosis which use to be fairly common which fluoride protects against. We don’t see much of the disease anymore. Our Director will schedule a tour of the Water Department. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 5 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m. Respectively Submitted, Tina M. Kreidler Principal Clerk/Stenographer