Meeting Minutes
June 2, 2008
Members Present: Gerry Gleich, Matt Mecum, Lorie Martiska
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Dennis Costello (Sanitation Agent), see attached Sign-In Sheet
Recorder: Lorie Martiska
RESIDENT BUSINESS
Joe McGrath (Stormwater) – Postponed to the next meeting.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Vouchers were approved.
Matt motioned to approve the Meeting Minutes dated April 28, 2008; Lorie seconded; all agreed.
The date for the next BOH meeting will be July 28th. Dennis will contact the Board should plan review be needed before this date.
Correspondence Reviewed: (1) Kate Kelly (MDPH) – Towns do not need to stockpile syringes for a pandemic. (2) Habitat for Humanity – Dennis attended a meeting regarding a possible Habitat for Humanity home construction on Mill Road Circle. It is 40B eligible so it will not have to meet local Board of Health regulations, only Title 5. The Board is in favor of the project.
Budget – The Board reviewed the budget to see if there were areas that could be reduced in anticipation of the Selectmen’s meeting and found that there is no room for further reductions. The Board’s previous request for funds for a town wide flu clinic and education was not received.
Reorganization of the Board – Gerry Gleich was re-elected as the Chairman for the Board.
AGENT’S REPORT
Mosquito Control – Research was done by Gerry Gleich and is as follows:
While the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends Mosquito Control projects as a central component in the battle against mosquito borne illness, West Nile Virus (WNV) and the other less common causes of encephalitis and meningitis have a low incidence in Massachusetts.
Data from the CDC from 2007:
Nationally fatalities from WNV = 124
Massachusetts fatalities from WNV = 0
Nationally cases of WNV Encephalitis / Meningitis = 1217
Massachusetts cases of WNV Encelphalitis / Meningitis = 3
These numbers demonstrate that the incidence of this is low. 0.1-10 cases per million. The actual number of infections is unknown. These represent reported cases. Extrapolations are based on data obtained from surveillance programs. Other parts of the country have much higher rates of WNV.
It was agreed public health threats from mosquitoes are of low incidence. Mosquito control projects are recommended along with education campaigns targeting the use of insect repellents, protective clothing, and avoiding being outside during high mosquito activity times of the day, and environmental controls to help avoid greater public health threat. There is no available cost / benefit analysis of these programs to help quantify how much they help prevent mosquito borne illness.
It was noted that the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control project in addition to gathering disease surveillance data, was also able to help citizens minimize the nuisance of mosquitoes by spraying when asked. The program also provided us with the data about WNV in our area so we could publish a warning to the schools and community last year with reminders about personal and environmental measures mentioned above. It was also noted that our program is still new, and needs time to achieve measureable results. One concern is that stopping this program now means it could go away forever. Concerns were also expressed that the selectmen explored options regarding this program without requesting info from or notification of health agent or board.
Updates:
(250 Cross Street) Dennis reported that the Lombardi’s agreed to reduce the number of bedrooms to reduce the size of the system to meet the requirement of 100’ from the neighbor’s well.
(81 Shrewsbury Street) They have complied with all that was required and will return to the Board regarding other uses of adjacent suites to the bank.
(742 Main Street) Referred to next meeting.
(Stiles Road Lots 1 & 2) They will need to come back to the Board regarding the distance of the system to the house.
PLAN REVIEW
64 Linden Street (John Waugh) – Approved.
Gerry motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 p.m.; Matt seconded; all agreed. Group adjourned to attend Selectmen’s meeting.
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