Board of Health

City of Middletown Department of Health 245 deKoven Drive Middletown, CT 06457 TEL: (860) 638-4960 FAX: (860) 638-1960 TDDL: (860) 344-3521 Middletown Board of Health Minutes from November 8, 2022 Meeting Present: Patricia DiStefano, Yvonne Joy, Reverend Robyn Anderson, Linda Salafia , Stan Opalacz, Anthony Mangiafico, Kevin Elak, Jennifer Sparks Absent: Call To Order:  Meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Patricia DiStefano. Approval of Minutes:  Minutes for September 13, 2022. Motion by Yvonne Joy 2nd by Anthony Mangiafico. Minutes approved. Motion Passes. Public Hearing for Agenda Items:  Glen Russo of 288 Margarite Road would like to speak regarding the rooster ordinance. He does not believe that the grandfathering in of existing roosters should be permitted in the ordinance. He believes it will be problematic because you can live somewhere for a very long period of time, in his case 31 years, having to deal with a rooster. He thinks it will be hard to manage this and how could the health department know if one rooster dies and is replaced with another. He brings up, if grandfathering is the case you would need to have people register the roosters and these roosters can now remain on properties for decades. Glen states roosters are not necessary for the production of eggs. He is in favor of banning roosters. He discussed a 90 day implementation period and 30 day compliance date for enforcement of this rooster ordinance. Directors Report:  Director of Health o Kevin Elak discussed the rates of RSV, influenza and covid cases, rapidly spreading through the community. He stated emergency rooms and children’s hospitals are nearly at capacity. As public health professionals we are working to get the message out if you are sick, covid or not, you should be staying home. Kevin spoke about the ebola virus outbreaks in Uganda and how the Middletown Health Department will be notified if someone travels from that region to follow-up with them. Kevin discussed the seasonal flu, covid, shingles and pneumonia vaccine clinics being offered around the city and stated the clinics have had very good turnout rates. He discussed Middletown has recently seen a spike in overdose events. The last week in October there were 7 overdoses and 3 deaths. The health department is working with community partners to reduce harm and create an action plan to best respond to overdoses in town. This opioid epidemic needs to be attacked from all angles police, fire, EMTs, hospitals, recovery coaches etc. On October 29th the police department hosted a drug takeback day which the health department attended. Lastly, Kevin explained Middletown will be receiving $25,000 from the Purdue Pharma settlement money which will be used to buy Narcan, train staff etc. Kevin would like to discuss this at the next council meeting.  Division Report o Jennifer Sparks provided an update on environmental health activities, inspection frequencies, housing, health education and emergency preparedness activities. Old Business: Revisiting the approval of changes to the Chapter 107 Animal ordinance, specifically, 107- 1 poultry and other birds, cattle, horses, swine, goat and sheep. Kevin stated implementing a new animal ordinance is creating concern for the fate of the roosters that are currently out there on properties with less acreage than 3. Kevin would like the board to revisit this rooster ordinance and discuss it further to see what changes may need to be made. He would like to hear from the board: Linda Salafia: She does not think that we should be banning roosters. She states there are noise issues everywhere for example children and dogs. She thinks that banning roosters is governmental overreach and does not support this ordinance change. Anthony Mangiafico: Wants to discuss how we would manage the grandfathering in of roosters and how we could track what rooster is new versus old. He is concerned this will not be easy for the health department to manage. Yvonne Joy: Thinks that a specific deadline with set time periods for this ordinance would be a good idea and how this should best be implemented. Robyn Anderson: States how difficult of a situation this to determine if you can or cannot own a rooster and believes if you have enough land you should be able to own a rooster. She mentions it does not seem there are not too many complaints created because of roosters in Middletown. Linda Salifia: Wants to know if guinea hens would be included in this ordinance. Kevin states they will not be. Anthony Mangiafico: He would like to propose the board let the ordinance be as is or have it be effective 6 months to a year after it is voted in to allow people time to get rid of their roosters. Motion: Anthony would like to make a motion to revise the proposed ordinance to amend the current proposal to add a six month implementation period for the rooster portion of it. Patricia DiStefano seconds the motion. Linda Salifa states “nay” and objects the motion. Motion passes 4 to 1. This will be moved to the general council commission. New Business: None Other: None Adjournment:  Motion to adjourn by Anthony Mangiafico. 2nd by Robyn Anderson. Motion Carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:51 PM. Respectfully Submitted: Jennifer Sparks R.S. Acting Public Health Manager