The meeting convened at 1:45 PM. Present were Chairman Louis Fazen, III, Members Ruth C. Brefka, and Nancy A. Sacco, Public Health Director Paul C. Pisinski and Administrative Assistant Barbara M. Luther.

The minutes of the May 17, 2005 were approved with a clarification.

Vouchers totaling $579.71were approved for payment from the Board of Health Budget. Dr. Fazen questioned the invoice from the Constable. Mr. Pisinski explained that this is a process that is sometimes necessary, i.e. having a constable serve an order to a property owner who is expected to refuse a certified letter. The Fuss & O’Neill invoice was held pending a breakdown at a per diem rate.

Members were briefed on the agenda and any scheduled appointments.

DISCUSSION
1:45 PM – Peter Bemis and Mr. Tomasetti re: Betterment Loan in excess of $22,000.00 – The Administrative Assistant to the Board of Health has been authorized to process Septic Betterment Loan applications up to and including $22,000. Any request in excess of $22,000 is to be brought before the Board Members for their review. Mr. Bemis, representing Mr. Tomasetti of 193 Woodland Rd., explained to the Board Members the reasons behind the $34,317.50 cost for replacing the failed subsurface sewage disposal system on his property. Mr. Bemis presented the Board Members with a letter and explained that the cost of repair is slightly above average due to the following circumstances: 1) several large trees must be removed, 2) several old cesspools on the property must be decommissioned and properly filled, and 3) the foundation of the house consists of 24 inch granite slabs, which will have to be core drilled for the plumbing to be realigned and adjusted. The members asked a few clarifying questions and Dr. Fazen moved that the application be approved for $34,317.50, Mrs. Brefka seconded the motion and Mrs. Sacco made it unanimous.

2:00 PM – Beth Collins, EDS Coordinator –Representatives from Fire, Police and Facilities to attend – The State Department of Public Health has asked each town to identify an Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) in their Town. Beth Collins has been hired by Massachusetts Health Officer’s Association (MHOA) as the EDS Coordinator to assist towns in their emergency preparedness planning. Ms. Collins is working with the 34 towns of the Region 4A area, she is focusing on the southern towns and another nurse is working with the northern towns. Identifying a town’s EDS is a first step in the MHOA plan. Ms. Collins advised the Board Members that a copy of the Emergency Dispensing Site Management and Operations manual could be found on the web. (Mrs. Luther will provide each member with a copy of the manual.) Ms. Collins advised the Board Members that for the first 72 hours of any disaster situation each community is its own island and therefore it is imperative that Southborough have a working Emergency Plan for that time. Ms. Collins explained the MHOA EDS Identification Form, which needs to be sent to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, no one from Police or Fire was able to attend the meeting, however Facilities Manager, Basilio Diaz did attend and brought a copy of the Local Emergency Planning Committee’s (LEPC) plan. Dr. Fazen asked Mr. Diaz to give a brief overview of the Local Emergency Plan (LEP), which is being developed with the Police and Fire and is based on MEMA plan requirements. This plan uses all 4 schools for both shelters and dispensing. All have kitchens, nursing facilities, large spaces and generators. Ms. Collins advised that when she had spoken with Mr. Pisinski they had thought that the Trottier Middle School would be the best location for the EDS. She believes that if there were 4 sites it would create a staffing problem, because an EDS must have “credentialed” personal staffing it. The Board Members agreed to list Trottier Middle School as the official MHOA EDS site on the EDS Identification Form to be sent to MEMA. Ms. Collins explained that now the Board would have to organize an EDS Team, which could come out of the LEPC. These individuals will organize credentialed people to be available to meet the needs of Southborough in a time of disaster or emergency. Next, the members must determine how to notify the population. There is no general format on how to do this because each town has its own capabilities.
Mr. Pisinski explained that the LEPC has chosen 4 sites to be used during any local disaster like a flood, tornado, train wreck, etc. The Fire Chief is the official Disaster Manager and he would choose the site to meet the needs of the town. Southborough’s Disaster Central is the Fire Station. Ms. Collins again explained that an EDS might need to be different from other disaster related needs. She explained that the town doesn’t need the approval of the School Committee to choose a site, because once the Governor gives the order a site is used by “eminent domain”. The State will give 24 hours notice and then a site must be ready and open to provide vaccinations. Therefore, once everything is set up Ms. Collins suggests that the town hold a Table Talk Exercise to determine any problems and make corrections before a disaster occurs. Mr. Diaz advised that the private schools in town were also available to the LEPC.
Ms. Collins strongly suggested that it be a medical person that activate the Board of Health’s EDS plan, and wanted to know if the Public Health Nurse or any of the medical personnel on the Board would be carrying a beeper. Dr. Fazen explained that Southborough doesn’t have the ability to provide 24/7 coverage, other than the Police/Fire system and their dispatcher. He advised that not even Region 4A has that capability yet, and advised that this issue will require much more discussion on how it might possibly be implemented. His understanding is that the plan is towards a regional system, but that the Region 4A plan is not coordinated with the Police and Fire regions. During the continued discussion about staffing the dispensing site Dr. Fazen questioned the liability of having volunteers dispensing vaccines, and felt that the legalities should be reviewed before the plan goes much further.
Mr. Pisinski explained that he attended an Incident Command Course and that Police, Fire and Health Departments are being encouraged to adopt the Incident Command System (ICS), which uses a military type approach with a special language. It was explained that the town’s Local Emergency Plan (LEP) has been in existence since 2000, and the Board of Health agreed to continue looking at the possibility of recruiting people to participate in the EDS plan.

New Meeting Site - Dr. Fazen asked Mr. Diaz to see if he could locate, by September, another possible Board meeting site.

List of Acronyms - Mrs. Brefka asked that a list of common acronyms be provided the members with there meaning spelled out.

Fuss & O’Neill/Odor Investigation - Mr. Pisinski explained that he had spoken with Amy Hunt of Fuss & O’Neill and she agreed to change the contract for Board of Health issues to a per diem basis. Mr. Pisinski stated that he felt that using the per diem system money might be available to address other areas of town such as the odor problem near the Rose Garden Restaurant. He explained that the Board really needs a person on a per diem basis who can be called out quickly when complaints come in. Usually both a “wet test” and a “dry test” are required to accurately locate a problem source. Mr. Pisinski suggested that the Board give some thought to putting an Engineering Line Item of a few thousand dollars into next year’s budget so that someone could be kept on a retainer for easy availability. Dr. Fazen thanked Mrs. Brefka for addressing the issue of a more detailed accounting on invoice, which the Board is asked to approve.

Chairman – to sign Letter of Support with the Worcester Regional Tobacco Collaborative (WRTCC). Dr. Fazen signed a Letter of Support with the Worcester Regional Tobacco Collaborative after the other Board Members unanimously voted their support of the program.

2 Woodland Rd. Septic Issues – Dr. Fazen asked Mr. Pisinski to update the Board on Mr. Heavy’s issues regarding 2 Woodland and the 84 and 86 Turnpike Rd. sites, which all have failing cesspools. Mr. Pisinski told the members that he sat in on an “executive session” of the Conservation Commission. The Conservation Commission still want Mr. Heavey to comply with the several outstanding corrective wetland violation orders. The Board members instructed MR. Pisinski to write Mr. Heavey and order him to comply with the repair to all three failing septic systems before the installation permits expire. Give him a definite time for compliance and indicate that the Board will have to take further enforcement action if he does not. These cesspools and malfunctioning septic systems have been know by Mr. Heavey to be in failure since 1997. That is time enough to comply

Fire Chief’s request for an available person to contact in case of an emergency - Mr. Pisinski explained the reasons for the Fire Department to request a Board of Health Member come out on an emergency. Dr. Fazen asked if this is at the same level of the CDC or State emergency requirements. Mr. Pisinski explained that he is available Monday through Friday 8AM to 5 PM, but in the case of an accident during the weekend, where, for example a car runs into a convenience store, or a fire in a restaurant, etc. someone from the Board of Health would have to go out an survey the damage. The Board Members agreed that the rotation would be as follows, the longest serving person would be called first, the second longest serving person would be called next and the newest member of the Board after that. Mr. Pisinski will provide each member with a card listing whom at the Department of Public Health to contact for different types of incidents.
Dr. Fazen would like a “kit” with supplies to be available for each member if they were called out. The kit should include masks, and gloves at a minimum. The members are not promising 24 hour coverage during the weekend or holidays, but will do what they can.

Board of Health Meetings – The Board of Health Members agreed to continue alternating afternoon and evening meetings, and not to meet during the months of July and August unless something arises to necessitate a meeting. The next meeting will be September 14, 2005 at 7:00 PM at the Fire Station. October’s meeting will be at 2:00 PM, on October 12, 2005; on November 9, 2005 the meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the Fire Station, on December 14, 2005, the Board will meet at 2:00 PM, on January 11, 2006 the Board will meet at 7:00 PM at the Fire Station, and on February 8, 2006 the Board will meet at 2:00 PM. The evening meetings will be held at the Fire Station and the afternoon meeting will be held either at the Town Hall or at a new location. Dr. Fazen would like to see if a smaller site could be located so that the members might sit more “round table” style.

The following License(s) and Permit(s) signed by the Public Health Director:
2005015 70 Newton St. Matt Jackson 75/20 3 Complete Replacement
2004037 218 Turnpike Rd. Long Automotive Grp. 28/09 1,507 GPD Revision Complete Replacement
2005016 1 Wyndemere Dr. Alfred & Noreen Rossini 52/20 4 Revision
2005017 17 Foley Dr. Michael Forman 45/45 4 Complete Replacement
2005018 14 General Henry Knox Peter Joyal 36/27 4 Complete Replacement
2005019 12 Mitchell Street Lisa Maselli 47/20 4 Complete Replacement
2005020 49 Southville Rd. J. C. Parmenter - Ron Hickey 4/25 3 Complete Replacement

The meeting adjourned at 4:45 PM

Respectfully submitted by: Barbara M. Luther, Administrative Assistant to the Board of Health