Board of Health

BOH MEETING MINUTES 04-06-2021 Attending via TEAMS Conference Call Call # 1 617-433-9462, Conference ID: 943 712 102# Joseph Tennyson, MD, Chair Jim Griffin, Vice-Chair Phillip Short, Member Also in attendance: Director John Garside and Clerk Tina Nolin Meeting called to order 6:30 pm Reading and Approval of Minutes • Minutes for March 8, 2021 meeting: Vice-Chair Griffin motioned to approve the minutes and place them on file. Chair Tennyson seconded the motion; Board roll call vote was 3-0 to approve the motion. New Business • Discussion & Update of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Director Garside welcomed new member Phillip Short to the Board and congratulated Vice-Chair Griffin on his reappointment, thanking them for their service. Director Garside updated the Board on the recent activities of the Health Department regarding COVID-19. - Since February 2020, the City’s total cases are 4512; 4310 people have recovered, and 115 have passed. There are 87 active cases. Incidence per 100K people is at 21.4; positivity is at 2.99%. The average age among active cases is 33- 34 years. We’ve been hovering around that for a while now, whereas last May, the average age was hovering at about 51 years. - We have our last Moderna Second-Dose clinic coming up on April 14th. So, for a while, at least, we will not be getting any more vaccines from the state; this is true of all local health departments. - We have begun a Homebound program and have received 160 doses of the J & J vaccine for homebound folks. We started these vaccinations today. - The Health Department is also working with UMass Memorial Hospital Marlborough and their Worcester Community Health Group to reach some of our underserved residents. We will have a clinic at Bethel Presbyterian Church on Lincoln Street on April 23rd. We hope to offer clinics at a couple of our other churches as well. The churches we have spoken to seem very receptive to it. UMASS is doing the vaccine administration, and we are doing the leg work of getting the locations, pre-registering the participants, etc. - Regarding our attempt to form a vaccine collaborative with UMASS Marlborough, we also brought in Hudson, Berlin, and Stow as a final push to get approval from the State. Yesterday, we had a call with DPH, the Mayor, and the Health Director from Hudson. They asked that we get on another registration and billing software system called COLOR. We have a webinar on that  Board of Health Minutes April 6, 2021 p2 tomorrow. Collaborative approval forever seems like a moving target, so it’s been a little frustrating, but we’ll see what happens next. - The hospital did 675 doses out of their site at Courtyard Marriott on Felton Street last week. Additionally, they have 800-second doses slated for this coming week. There is some talk of the hospital getting some Federal vaccine from the Edward M Kennedy Health Center out of Worcester. It had gotten hung up a bit due to Federal Supply issues. So, we are waiting to hear more on that. - Chairman Tennyson spoke on what is going on in the hospital. They still see a few sporadic cases here and there, mostly among younger people. Yesterday, at the Leominster Hospital testing site, the positivity rate was less than 1% which is fantastic! So, hopefully, it will hold. But, unfortunately, that is not the case for all of the UMASS system. Director’s Update - We are back in the schools doing vaccine clinics for childhood diseases. We had not been doing those since COVID-19 started. - We did have a TB exposure in the schools, all of the contacts have tested negative. However, they will be subject to additional testing in 10 weeks. - SCHOOL UPDATE: Assabet Valley Vocational Technical High School is looking for a full return to in-person learning on May 4th. It is still in the proposal stage at this time and being presented to their school board tonight. Marlborough Public Schools are back to full-time in-person learning for grades Kindergarten thru five as of now. They plan to have all grades, six thru eight, and the high school students back to full time, hopefully by April 28th. Subdivision Site Plan & Special Permit Reviews - Director Garside updated the Board regarding the special permit that City Council had issued on what was formally the Quality Inn. Diversified Funding and Acquisition LLC has purchased the property and wants to convert it to an Extended Stay Hotel. It will have the same footprint, lot coverage, etc. They will be changing the manager’s residents into a hotel room. The significant change is that they will be adding kitchenettes into every room. One item of note is that they are currently on a septic system, and one condition of the permit is that they have to get connected to city sewer. - The other item is Bolton Street Tavern, which is looking to modify its establishment by adding a large outside covered eating area, bar area, fire bit, and bocci/horseshoe area. He will be going to the conservation commission on April 14th and eventually be applying for an alteration of premises for his liquor license and his food permit. Unknow Business at Time of Posting There was no unknown business  Board of Health Minutes April 6, 2021 p3 Scheduling of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board will be on May 3rd at 6:30 pm. Attendance will continue to be remote via Teams meeting. ADJOURN Vice-chair Griffin motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:50 pm; Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the roll call vote was 3-0 in favor to adjourn. Respectfully submitted, 05/03/2021 Dr. Joseph Tennyson Dated Cc: Board of Health Members City Council, City Clerk, and City of Marlborough Website