Town of Lenox
Board of Health
Minutes of Meeting - May 7, 2003
Members Present: Andrew J. Breslin, Chair, Marie V. Feder, Joseph A. Kellogg
Chair A. Breslin called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Lenox Town Hall.
Minutes of the April 2, 2003 meeting were reviewed and requests made for minor modifications. The corrected minutes will be presented for approval at the June 4th meeting.
Sue Kaufman, with the Berkshire Visiting Nurse Association (BVNA) was present and provided a brief presentation relative to the services her organization provides to Lenox residents as part of their annual contract with the Town. She reviewed statistics as to the number of persons receiving free care and said the BVNA was in the process of installing new software to better track such information. S. Kaufman gave the Board copies of a draft brochure she was putting together to better market BVNA’s services. Discussion followed with suggestions for revising the brochure and also on ways of providing the public with needed health information. It was agreed that the BVNA would set up and staff a table at the Apple Squeeze in the fall and look at developing a health fair booth for the following year.
Richard Gregg and Jamie Cahillane appeared to discuss their proposal for an “Idle Free Lenox”. R. Gregg provided Board members with a large amount of information as to the health impacts and energy costs of idling vehicles. He noted that State law prohibits idling for longer than five minutes and suggested that the Town become more aggressive about enforcing the law. Substantial discussion followed and while Board members said they were supportive of an informational campaign to discourage such action, they expressed concern about the effectiveness of using the
police to write tickets to violators. R. Gregg and J. Cahillane acknowledged the Board’s concern and said they would set up a meeting with all interested parties and the Board of Selectmen to discuss the matter further.
The Board reviewed a letter from Tri-Town Health which advised of a recent incident at the Turnure Terrace apartments where unsanitary conditions were discovered in a tenant’s apartment during the investigation of an apparent gas leak. It was noted that a hearing had been set for May 9th to determine if a condemnation was warranted.
M. Feder said no information had been received as to the status of Suchelle’s restaurant. The restaurant had recently closed and the space was in need of cleaning.
Board of Health
Meeting Minutes - May 7, 2003
Page 2.
J. Kellogg told the Board that he had received a call from a person who had recently dined at Friendly’s Restaurant on the Pittsfield-Lenox Road and found a bloodied band-aid in her food. The incident was reported to Tri-Town Health who will investigate.
It was noted that a public hearing would be held at the Lenox Town Hall on June 3rd on the proposed new tobacco regulations. All members said they would attend.
Members congratulated M. Feder on her re-election at the May 5th Annual Town Election and noted that a re-organization of the Board was in order. On a motion by M. Feder, seconded by J. Kellogg, the Board voted 3-0 to elect A. Breslin as Chair.
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
APPROVED:
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Andrew J. Breslin
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Marie V. Feder
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Joseph A. Kellogg
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