Board of Health

CITY OF GARDNER OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH ROOM 29, CITY HALL GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS 01440 (978) 630-4013 FAX (978) 632-4682 To: Lauren Saunders – Assistant Health Director Dr. John Mulqueen, Chairperson Susan Avallone, Member Atty. Geoffrey Tobia, Member Minutes for Board of Health meeting held on Monday, March 25, 2019 __________________________________________________________________________________ 5:05 Meeting called to order. 5:07 Forrest Price, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Consultant is here with an updated Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) plan. He explained in detail changes to the previous plan. For the last year and a half they have been implementing updated plans across the entire region. There are 2 programs; one is the EDS Drill and exercises which we completed about a month ago. This was discussed in detail at the February 25, 2019 meeting. The other program is to be sure that all communities have the same updated Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) plan. He started the personalization of the template for Gardner and has given a copy to Jennifer. The change in the EDS plan is on the 2nd handout that was given. Now that the planners do not work with the communities as closely, updating your plan and filling it out is going to fall on the community. There is a 3 page summary as to why we have a common template, what it means to you, operations across the region, and what you need to know to update your plan. Forrest tried to do a little bit of it for us. He broke it down into 3 basic sections that need to be updated. The first section is personnel listings. These are the people who would play key roles in EDS operations. Public Health would take the lead but others would include the Emergency Management Director, Police and Fire, and the Mayor’s office, and what they should do to back up and provide assistance to Public Health. The second part is the Emergency Dispensing Site’s (EDS’s) specific information. The created plan is a good place to store that information so it is all in one handy document. The third part is activity assignments. This is a list of suggested operations or activities that you may need to consider during any of these phases; from planning, getting ready to actually doing an operation, how you carry it out, and how you close out operations. They give sections for you to complete information. One column is what the activity is, and the next is who should do it. In order to help you find your way through the plan, Forrest has highlighted in the table of contents all of the sections that are referenced in this document. Jennifer has the EDS book and template. In talking to some of the other communities, Forrest has found a lot of people were having a hard time getting started. It is best if everyone works on the plan together, time allowing. Jennifer asked for clarification; do we need to redo the whole plan? Forrest replied that she only needs to fill in what is highlighted and to tailor it to Gardner specifically. Jennifer asked when it needs to be completed and when she needs to submit it. Forrest states that there is no time-frame to submit it. He states that we should work on it as we can. The first step should be to enter the  city personnel who should be involved. Forrest assured the Board that if they have any questions he is available, just give him a call. Forrest mentioned that on April 18th there will be a meeting and a full acceptance of the contract for the coming year’s grant. Before that Jennifer will be presented with information as to what the grant looks like for this year and in a broad sense what the deliverables are going to be. Forrest stated that Gardner would need to have a place to store vaccines in an emergency. Forrest suggested that the BOH try to set something up with the local hospital for storage. Page 13 in the book briefly describes how you would get vaccines. There is also information on the State DPH website. Forrest asked Jennifer to have anything she can ready for publication to him by June so that the region can arrange for 2 more printings of the plan with the updates. Forrest will also send her an MS Word copy of the plan. Forrest left the meeting. 5:45 Minutes from the February 25, 2019 meeting were reviewed, discussed, revisions needed. 5:52 Old Business: No old business. 5:53 New Business: The annual Funeral Director licenses were reviewed, approved and signed by Board Members. Mosquito Control will be starting up today, March 25, 2019. They will start with spraying of the swampy areas. Joan from Tobacco Control did a retail inspection for compliance of cigar packaging, pricing, and flavored tobacco. There were 9 stores with violations. When Jennifer gets the list with the exact names and details she will give the list to the Board. Two of the businesses are up for suspension and two are being fined. Sanctuary Medicinals now has a recreational marijuana sales license and is selling recreational products by appointment only. Under the State Sanitary Code the BOH does not have the authority to inspect this business. Products are manufactured in Littleton. The Board of Health’s assistant director Lauren Saunders inspected Café Edesia. There were some issues with cleanliness and sighting of insects. Trash is a continual challenge. There was a recent mailing from us on recycling which has created some calls with questions from residents. Gardner has received a grant for a person to inspect the recycling totters for contamination. Curbside yard waste pickup is starting up again for the season. There is also yard waste disposal available at the Transfer Station and this is included in the cost of the Transfer Station sticker. 6:15 Set next meeting for April 29, 2019, at 5pm, adjourn. ________________________ _______________________ _________________________ Dr. John Mulqueen MD, Chairperson Susan Avallone, Member Atty. Geoffrey Tobia, Member All conversations are documented on recording identified as B.O.H March 25, 2019.