Board of Health

BOH MEETING MINUTES 07-12-2021 Council Committee Room, 140 Main Street Joseph Tennyson, MD, Chair Jim Griffin, Vice-Chair Phillip Short, Member - Absent Also in attendance: Director John Garside and Clerk Tina Nolin Meeting called to order 6:30 pm Reading and Approval of Minutes • Minutes for June 8, 2021 meeting: Vice-Chair Griffin motioned to approve and place the minutes on file. Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; Board roll call vote was 2-0 to approve the motion. New Business • Discussion & Update of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Director Garside updated the Board on the recent activities of the Health Department regarding COVID-19. COVID-19 Cases Historically 4820 cases since February 2020, 4695 have recovered, 121 have died, and three are active today. Marlborough currently has an incident rate of .30 per 100K people and a positivity rate of .26%. Vaccines Sixty-nine percent of Marlborough’s population has had at least one vaccine dose versus 68% state-wide and 55% nationally. Sixty-two percent of Marlborough’s population is fully vaccinated. The director showed a map from DPH showing vaccination rates in the towns of Middlesex county. The data show Marlborough and most towns in Middlesex County being above the state benchmark for first doses. The Marriott Clinic, run by Marlborough Hospital, closed on June 30th. Approximately 25,000 doses were administered through the site, with over 1/3 of those doses given to Marlborough residents. The director gave a big thank you to the Hospital for all of their work and help, citing that they were a great partner. Community Outreach Work Our COVID-19 Ambassadors, since we last met, have visited about 118 businesses promoting vaccination, handing out pamphlets, shirts, and wristbands. Over the next several weeks, we will be out to our residential communities and churches to see how they are doing and handing out our latest information that can be of service.  Board of Health Minutes July 12, 2021 p2 Director’s Update Beaches are doing well. The department tests the beaches weekly for E. coli bacteria, usually on Mondays, bacteriologically, as well as visually and olefactory for blue-green algae or cyanobacteria. So far, there has been none of that to speak of. The department will begin focusing more on vector-borne diseases – mosquitoes, ticks, etc., by running social media campaigns, handing out information in the community, and other such activities. A vector- borne arborvirus surveillance map from the State shows that the current risk is low for EEE and West Nile Virus across the state. The department continues to offer person-in-charge training to our new food establishments or existing establishments that need a refresher. This training occurs on the third Wednesday of each month. The department issued a couple of emergency beaver trapping permits - one at the North Branch of Millham Brook Culvert (near 391 Bigelow Street) and the other at the Lake Williams dam outlet structure. They have been out at these locations for about 12 days trapping. We as a board have emergency power to issue emergency trapping, breaching, flow control devices if there is a health hazard, health threat, or severe loss of property. The director reported on a condemnation order he issued on June 23rd concerning an unoccupied dwelling in disrepair. The director presented some pictures of the property to the Board and stated that he was informed of it via the building department and has been working with the city solicitor. The property is ultimately anticipated to go to receivership. The order has not been contested, nor has a hearing been requested, so the order will stand. We are working with the homeowners’ group on Red Spring Road as there will be a transfer of property ownership there. The director reported that he has been talking to the group’s attorney about the requirements regarding connecting to city sewer as they are mostly septic systems and private wells over in that area. The form of ownership will be changing over there, so this is the time to move folks off septic and onto the city sewer system where possible or get septic system upgrades where needed. So the inspections will tell us a lot about what needs to be done. Currently, a trust owns the land, and they lease it to the dwelling owners. The new group will operate more like a condominium. The director introduced Sheila Lucia, the new Public Health Nurse. Sheila comes from the Marlborough Public School System and has been working in the department since March 2020, when she was on- boarded to help us with contact tracing. She has also been good with data and has helped the department track numbers, especially in the schools. Sheila will continue to work with the schools on vaccinations and other health initiatives. And she is an excellent fit for the office. Sheila then spoke, thanking the Board for their welcome and offering a bit of her background and how she became interested in Public Health and her interest in getting children in compliance with their vaccines and working with the schools. Since February, Sheila has worked with the schools and has gotten 95 students in compliance with their vaccines, 40 of whom were children with no insurance and who would not have been vaccinated. Sheila shared her goal of getting every student into vaccine compliance and getting the kids whose parents can’t get them to a summer clinic or a doctor’s office vaccinated.  Board of Health Minutes July 12, 2021 p3 Subdivision Site Plan & Special Permit Reviews As an FYI, the director mentioned and showed Wildwood’s patio plans with seating for about 48 people. Unknown Business at Time of Posting There was no unknown business Scheduling of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board will be on Monday, August 9th, at 6:30 pm. Attendance will be in person at City Hall in the Council Committee Room. ADJOURN Vice-chair Griffin motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 pm; Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the roll call vote was 2-0 in favor to adjourn. Respectfully submitted, August 9, 2021 Dr. Joseph Tennyson Dated Cc: Board of Health Members City Council, City Clerk, and City of Marlborough Website