Board of Health

CITY OF GARDNER OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH 95 PLEASANT ST, ROOM 29 GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS 01440-2630 Members Present: Lauren Saunders – Health Director Susan Avallone, RN – Chairperson Michele C. Parker, MD - Member Attendees Present: Board of Health meeting held February 6, 2023 ________________________________________________________________________________ 4:39 Meeting called to order. 4:39 Review of minutes from the December 12, 2022 meeting has been postponed. 4:40 COVID Updates: Gardner is currently at 14.73%, and the State is at 9.37%. Both are currently higher than the last meeting where Gardner was at 8.26% and the State was at 7.26%. The COVID test kit expiration dates have been extended an additional three months from the expiration date on the box. We have received a new batch of tests from the state. Clinics are still being held, and we are working on a COVID, shingles and pneumonia clinic that will be held at the Senior Center on 3/13/23 in partnership with the MPHN COVID Response Team and the CHC Mobile Team. The DPH State Mobile Unit has been reaching out to larger groups. We have been promoting upcoming clinics through Code Red calls to the community. 4:45 Old Business: The annual EDS site drill was on 12/19/22. On 1/10/23 there was a staff notification drill with 100% participation in the survey. We’re still in the process of working on the bid packet for the landfill pumps with a tentative Spring date of completion. This is being paired with work being done on the DPW side of the landfill. There is some work that may need to be done sooner, such as vacuuming out sediment from the sumps that is clogging some of the pumps and keeping them from operating at full capacity. Waste oil is still not being accepted at the transfer station because of the previous contamination. We’re planning for the upcoming Household Hazardous Waste Days and have just confirmed dates for this coming year. Recently signage at the Transfer Station was updated to include mattresses and textiles under the new waste ban items. 4:47 New Business: The State Sanitary Housing Code recently changed. Lauren and Angela will be attending the training on 2/7/23. This past weekend, due to extremely low temperatures, there were multiple calls from City of Gardner Dispatch to our department for burst pipes, flooding, collapsed ceilings and residences without heat and water. It would be ideal to have a City Social Worker position to help out in situations like these. A possible grant through the Police Department was discussed.  We recently completed the Recycle Grant Reports. The RDP Spending Report, Recycle and Solid Waste Survey and Buy Recycled Memo were due by 2/15/23. These reports are done every year, and in return we get recycle grant money to use towards anything recycling related. Recently compost bins were purchased by the department, and they will be advertised and available to residents to purchase for a small fee. Working on the budget for FY24 that is due on 2/15/23. With the increase of department staff we will be asking for a professional development line increase. We’ve been catching up on food inspections. There have been a couple of problem restaurants, so we’ll be increasing the frequency of inspections and trying to provide more education to these businesses. If we continue to see some of the same violations we may ask them to come before the board. The camera has been used to try and catch incidents of illegal dumping. However, it’s difficult to position and we’re still learning. We plan to start an Illegal Dumping Hotline to deter littering and dumping. It would be a separate phone line within the department for reporting. 4:58 Next meeting: Monday March 27, 2023 at 4:30 PM here at Gardner City Hall in the Mayor’s Conference Room; adjourn. ____________________________ __________________________ ____________________________ Susan Avallone RN, Chairperson Atty. Geoffrey Tobia, Member Michele C. Parker MD, Member All conversations are documented on recordings identified as BOH February 6 Meeting, 2023.