Board of Health

CITY OF SALEM BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING MINUTES May 9, 2017 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Paul Kirby, Dr. Jeremy Schiller, Mary Lauby, Kerry Murphy EXCUSED: Nancy Crowder OTHERS PRESENT: Larry Ramdin, Health Agent, Suzanne Doty, Public Health Nurse, Maureen Davis, Clerk of the Board, Beth Gerard, Council Liaison, Dr. Brita Lundberg, Infectious Diseases Specialist, Richard Stafford, resident, Sarah Keiler & Marnie Biondi – Expect Program students, Salem State University TOPIC DISCUSSION/ACTION 1. Call to Order 7:01pm J. Schiller motioned to move item #5 out of order on the Agenda. M. Lauby 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 2. Approval of Minutes M. Lauby motioned to approve the minutes, with corrections. (April 18, 2017) J. Schiller 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 3. Chairperson Announcements Welcome to new Board member Kerry Murphy. P. Kirby will meet with her soon to update her on Board programs, etc. M. Lauby motioned to move Health Agent’s Report out of order. J. Schiller 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 4. Monthly Reports-Updates A. Public Health Number of flu cases going down after a spike in cases. Nurse’s Report Doctors are testing baby boomers for Hep C now because there is a cure. Working on Wellness program was discussed. S. Doty delivered reusable bags and wire fruit baskets to City departments with wellness information, activity challenge instructions, pedometers, etc. Included in the baskets were apples donated by Crosby’s Marketplace. Participants in the activity challenge will be using the “Map my” app where they will map the number of miles either walked or run. Met with Katie at the Salem YMCA and got free passes for the new yoga studio. Planning to do a class for stress reduction with the Employee Assistance Program, which is provided to all employees and their families. Copy available at the BOH office B. Health Agent’s L. Ramdin was joined by the SSU Communications students from Report the Expect Program who spoke about their project to provide awareness and help destigmatize addiction. They presented small portions of their video “Decide to Destigmatize”, which can be viewed online on YouTube and has been shared on Facebook and other social media outlets. The project was very professional. They worked closely with Larry and Suzanne from the Health Dept. and also with Emily Chi from the Salem Overdose Coalition. P. Kirby extended an invitation to the students to come join us at the June meeting where Mary Wheeler, Program Director for the Healthy Streets Outreach Program, will speak about the state of health in Salem. P. Kirby inquired about the status of Vapor Outlet’s suspension. Have been waiting to see if Eric Stone did in fact bring his case to court as stated at the April meeting. Have not heard anything yet. M. Lauby asked for clarification of “small mammals” from the Health Agent’s report. L. Ramdin explained it is not just rats and mice, but includes racoons, squirrels, etc. L. Ramdin received a call from the Mayor wanting an understanding of pop-up permits. There was a rumor and she thought we were prohibiting pop-ups. It was explained to her that there was a pop-up at Notch and their outdoor patio has crushed stone/gravel, which is not an appropriate surface because it is not cleanable. When Notch opened, the patio was approved because they were only going to be serving pretzels and the like, which is easy to clean because they are dry. Smokin’ Betty’s was told they could not serve food outside on crushed stone, so why is it ok for Notch? L. Ramdin will have discussion with owner of Notch to explain, and will clarify that no scheduled pop up food events at Notch will be affected for the duration of the 2017 outdoor season. However, patio surface improvements will be needed after that. P. Kirby asked if we should revisit the fees for October. L. Ramdin believes we should due to increased staff time with the large number of vendors in October. J. Schiller thought the $300.00 fee was based on time. M. Lauby said fees are not intended to balance the budget. They are not sum certain. Haunted Happenings generates a lot of money for the City. J. Schiller feels some of the money generated for the City should go to the Health Dept. for increased staff time. Feels out of town vendors are taking away business from Salem businesses so they should pay more. L. Ramdin acknowledges the Board’s decision is our decision. P. Kirby wonders if we should increase fees for non-Salem businesses at Haunted Happenings.  L. Ramdin shares that Assistant City Solicitor Victoria Caldwell advised it is not discriminatory to charge out of town vendors more money. J. Schiller feels the City Council should care about permit prices since it goes into the general fund and helps the overall budget. B. Gerard says there are budget hearings with the Council on 5/30, 5/31, 6/1, 6/6 and 6/7. Explains that the Council votes only on what the Mayor recommends. The Board will support the Health Dept. in any way possible. L. Ramdin has asked for an increase in the overtime budget and an increase in hours to 19 for the part-time inspector. P. Kirby says the Board can write a letter to the Mayor in support of budget issues. L. Ramdin discussed the proposal to Council for a Certificate of Fitness ordinance to require an inspection every three years. If the ordinance goes through, the Mayor is willing to add an inspector with flexible hours to cover nights and weekends. Currently, 64% of Salem’s housing units are multi-family units. Copy available at the BOH office C. Administrative Report Copy available at the BOH office D. City Council Liaison Continuing discussions on food trucks. Need to outline specifics, Updates such as whether there is even a market for it in Salem? Is there enough space to accommodate? B. Gerard explains the process is to make a recommendation to the Committee, then the Committee takes it to Council. L. Ramdin pointed out zoning changes to allow food trucks on private property would open a can of worms. M. Lauby feels they may bring more people out and not just be bad for local competition. L. Ramdin points out food trucks would also mean an increase in inspections. Discussion about the train station as a possible location for food trucks. City owns land there for Housing Development Improvement Plan. M. Lauby asks what’s happening with the Sanctuary for Peace? B. Gerard says the Council voted twice, both times 7 to 4. There is talk about an Inclusion Commission comprised of 11 members, chosen by the Mayor. People against it threatened that either the Council rescind their vote or they will petition to put it on the ballot. A petition was started, but the people obtaining signatures were not being truthful to voters. There were challenges to some of the signatures and people who were misled had a limited time to request their signature be removed from the petition. Residents are tense about the issue. There is conflicting information  on Facebook. Sanctuary for Peace is meant simply for all people to be treated with respect. J. Schiller motioned to accept the reports. Kerry Murphy 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 5. Fracked Gas Dr. Brita Lundberg gave handout from Mass. Medical Society Infrastructure issue regarding health risks of natural gas pipelines. Copy available at the BOH office. Showed map of proposed Massachusetts sites to export gas to Canada. We need to change the narrative; needs are not increasing and it is not for our benefit, it is for the benefit of the gas companies. Attorney General Maura Healey says she is against it because it is an unnecessary project and 80% of the gas will be exported. Accidents, such as explosions and fires, have increased five-fold in the last decade. Most of the problems occur in the distribution lines. Hazardous substances are emitted by the pipelines. Company called Spector submitted a list of hazardous substances to the DEP. Fracked gas goes into radioactive layers of the earth. J. Schiller asks what is a safe level of radium? Thus far, only environmental impacts have been look at, not human risk. Not sure yet of the health effects. Just now beginning to see Comprehensive Health Impact Assessments. One such assessment from Colorado showed that younger children are affected most with severe headaches, leukemia, birth defects and neurological issues. Boston Public Health Commission suggested to stop all work on the West Roxbury site until more CHIAs are completed. 50% of our gas right now is fracked. Dr. Lundberg would like us to speak in one voice by signing the letter to Governor Baker requesting CHIAs. J. Schiller asked if gas lines are safe. Dr. Lundberg said legislators are already saying they are not safe and are in support of CHIAs and a change in site Board regulations. Fracking is not happening in Massachusetts, but there are harmful substances in our gas from the fracking occurring elsewhere. K. Murphy asks who is responsible for implementing CHIAs? They are usually done by academics, such as BU and Harvard. Departments of Health can do them, but they are very expensive – around $50,000.00. Have sent letters to 351 Boards. Governor Baker is in favor of pipelines. J. Schiller points out it is a no-brainer to be in favor of CHIAs. Dr. Lundberg gave Board members two House bill docket numbers so they can look them up for more details.  6. Hearing 2nd Violation Kwik Attorney representing Kwik Shop Market had to reschedule for the Shop Market, 10 Jefferson June 13, 2017 meeting. Avenue 7. Board of Health program planning M. Lauby will come to the June meeting with materials. & city health status discussion 8. Continue discussion on banning L. Ramdin stated there is a draft ordinance before the Council for Smoking in public parks and not smoking, but just in the Common. beaches P. Kirby wondered if conversation should begin in Council about no smoking in parks and beaches, or if we should wait to bring it up. L. Ramdin feels we should wait until after budget season is over to bring it up with Council. Spoke to Chief Butler who agreed that signage will work to enforce. 9. New Business/Scheduling of future For June meeting: Mary Wheeler – Needle Exchange agenda items Kwik Shop - Tobacco Hearing Jeanne Kempthorne – Gas Powered Leaf Blowers When asked to tell the Board about herself, Kerry Murphy shared that she works for Mass in Motion, and is paid through Partners and Mass. Dept. of Public Health. She also works with Green Space. L. Ramdin asked about indoor and rooftop gardening. Reference was made to the SNAP Program for buying fruits and vegetables. Main Streets could have UMass Extension School do cooking demos at the Farmer’s Market. L. Ramdin said there is a Community Supported Agriculture managed by Milk & Honey. MEETING ADJOURNED: M. Lauby motioned to adjourn. J. Schiller 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 9:30pm Respectfully submitted, Maureen Davis Clerk of the Board of Health Next regularly scheduled meeting is June 13, 2017 at 7:00pm at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street, 3rd floor, Room 313