Board of Health

BOH MEETING MINUTES 09-13-2021 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 August 9, 2021 meeting: Vice-Chair Griffin motioned to approve and place the minutes on file. Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the Board vote was 2-0 to approve the motion to accept the minutes. 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, 5131cases since February 2020, 4924 have recovered, 122 have died, and currently, we have 85 active cases. Since about the beginning of August, we have seen an upward trend in the number of cases. Marlborough’s 7-day incident rate (CDC metric) is 128.8 cases per day per 100K people (9/2/21 to 9/8/21); this puts us in the “High” risk for community transmission category. Middlesex County is at 117 cases per 7-day per 100K people. Our positivity rate is 3.14%. The positivity rate for Middlesex County is 1.52. Vaccines Seventy-three percent of Marlborough’s population has had at least one vaccine dose, and 66% are fully vaccinated; this compares to 78% of residents of Middlesex County who are fully vaccinated and 67% of those in Worcester County. Age 5-19 make up 23% of our current active cases. This younger age group making up a more significant percentage of our active cases has been the trend over the past several weeks. We also see that younger people (age 20-29) are less likely to get vaccinated. We continue to look for effective messaging to reach these populations. School update, MPS has 11 positive cases system-wide, and 24 kids are currently quarantined. To our knowledge, none of the cases were exposed at school. The breakdown is as follows School Positive Cases Quarantined Cases Kane 2 1 Richer 1 8 Jaworek 1 0 Goodnow 1 5 Whitcomb 5 5 High School 1 5  Board of Health Minutes September 13, 2021 p2 AMSA has one positive case and no quarantined cases, while Assabet has four positive cases and six folks quarantined. Staff has been busy tracking the school cases and working with the schools, but the overall school numbers do not appear alarming. Regarding breakthrough cases, in June, 18% of our cases were among the fully vaccinated. In July, 37% were breakthrough cases, and already to date, in August, 33% of our cases have been breakthrough cases. Bouvier Pharmacy did clinics at the High School and Whitcomb Middle School on Friday, September 10th. They vaccinated 18 students, not a huge turnout, but every vaccine given is a step in the right direction, and we certainly appreciate them coming out and helping with clinics. Bouvier Pharmacy also did a clinic at the Brazilian Festival and will be at the upcoming Food Truck Festival this coming weekend. So again, we thank them for helping us with these clinics. Director’s Update We hope to do COVID boosters for the populations we typically serve (Senior Housing, Elderly, Municipal Employees, and First Responders) starting in November, assuming Moderna gets approval by then. The state is still formulating its plan for booster shots and has sent out a survey asking for each municipality’s interest. We have responded that we are interested. Starting boosters in November will also allow us to focus on running the flu clinics in late Sept and October that we traditionally offer. For Flu Clinics, we have our first one coming up on October 22nd at the COA/Senior Center for those 60 and older. Postcards were sent out Friday to folks in the city. On October 5th, we have a clinic set up for Senior Housing residents at 250 Main Street. On October 13th, we are offering a clinic for City Employees, and then we will be back at the COA for a final clinic on October 19th. This clinic will be more of a catchall clinic, based on supply, for those still wanting the flu vaccine. The parade, where the Health Department/BOH and Marlborough Hospital were the Grand Marshalls, went very well. It was a great day. Jim Griffin, John Garside, Tina Nolin, Sheila Lucia (the Public Health Nurse), Nick Corcoran and Tray Hassan (Assistant Sanitarians), Oliveiros Salles, our COVID-19 Ambassador, also attended. West Nile Virus is present in the state, but Marlborough remains at the low-risk level, even though just to our East, Sudbury has moved into the moderate risk level, as is Middlesex County. Marlborough is also still at low risk for EEE, much like the rest of the state. The Director warned mosquito season is still upon us and things could change, but overall, we have had a quiet season. Subdivision Site Plan & Special Permit Reviews Director Garside presented the Red Spring Road (Cullinan Drive Extension) Preliminary Subdivision. He explained that except for the two lots at the Cullinane Drive end (which are the lots that comprise the proposed new subdivision), the entire parcel along Red Spring Road is for sale and that the owners of the 29 or so houses that currently are located on this 49-acre parcel are organizing to form an association, similar to a condominium association, to buy the parcel.  Board of Health Minutes September 13, 2021 p3 Garside stated that Title 5 requires the inspection of all the septic systems that serve these dwellings whenever there is a transfer of ownership or when any piece of the parcel is legally separated from the existing parcel. Garside mentioned the existence of a sewer easement that runs through the property and that the two dwellings that are part of the proposed subdivision are already on public sewer. There was discussion surrounding the new sewer connection ordinance and the feasibility of connecting these Red Spring Road properties to public sewer. The Director explained that other sewer alternatives are available beyond conventional sewers, such as low-pressure sewer systems. The homeowners’ group will likely evaluate this as a potential solution. However, the first order of business is to conduct the Title 5 inspections as required and then design wastewater solutions. After further discussion, the Board agreed to offer the following comments relative to this preliminary plan, “the Board has no fundamental problem with the separation of the two lots from the larger parcel, but prior to subdivision approval all of the requirements of law involving separation, which includes Title 5, are complied with. Ultimately, however, given the nearby location of the sensitive resource area (Fort Meadow Pond), we would prefer that these properties be connected to the public sewer system versus the continued use of on-site septic systems.” Unknown Business at Time of Posting There was no unknown business Scheduling of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board will be on Tuesday, October 12th, 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 7:16 pm; Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the roll call vote was 2-0 in favor to adjourn. Respectfully submitted, 10/12/2021 Dr. Joseph Tennyson Dated Cc: Board of Health Members City Council, City Clerk, and City of Marlborough Website