BOH
Monday
8.1.2011
Regular meeting of the Monson Board of Health was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Gary Allard. Members present: Phyllis Klick, Jane Jacobs and John Schneider. Member absent: Margaret Harrison. Also present: Health Inspector Lorri McCool, BOH Secretary Audra Staples
Approval of the Minutes from 7.18.11 was carried until next meeting. Ms. McCool had taken minutes at the previous meeting and had not had a chance to type them. She gave them to Ms. Staples who will type them for approval at the August 15, 2011 meeting.
Ms. McCool reviewed her notes from the previous meeting.
Ms. Jacobs went to see John Morrell and he approved the date for Hazardous Waste day. Ms. Jacobs is still going to check with Gaylin to reserve the banner space.
The Board Discussed the Flu Vaccine. The Flu shot is only for people who are under or un-insured this year. Mr. Allard feels that the paperwork and the financial cost of filing with Medicare may outweigh the benefit of offering the vaccine this year. Mr. Allard suggested having people pre-register for the shots at the Senior Center and charging $10 per vaccine. Ms. Jacobs will talk to Lori Stacey next week about holding the Flu Clinic at the Senior Center. Ms. Klick would like the Board of Health to send the Board of Selectmen a letter requesting money to cover the low-income seniors in the town. Ms. McCool said she recently spoke to the woman who bills Medicare for the Flu Clinics in the City of Springfield. She said that there was so much money and time involved in filing and
sometimes the state would deny reimbursement because the paperwork is not filled out completely. She said it had gotten to the point that they don’t even file for the reimbursement anymore.
Ms. McCool asked if Mr. Schneider was trained on MAVEN and he said he was working towards it at the time of the tornado and he is now working on completing the training. Ms. McCool would like to get on MAVEN and she is trying to set a date for training in September. She will let Mr. Schneider know when that is.
The landlord at 5 Lincoln Place asked Ms. McCool to write a letter about what she saw upon her inspection. Ms. McCool read the letter she wrote for this owner and asked the board’s permission to send the letter. Ms. Klick made a motion to approve the sending of the letter Ms. McCool had written to the owner of 5 Lincoln Place, seconded Mr. Schneider and voted unanimously.
Ms. McCool did an inspection at 41 Washington St. The female tenant called and complained that there was “black mold everywhere”. She moved into the apartment in April at which time the upstairs was vacant and the water was not turned on. New tenants moved into the upstairs apartment in June and in July she began to complain about health issues. She says her doctor said it was mold related illness and that she should not be living there. Today, upon Ms. McCool’s inspection, it appeared that the owner had removed the ceiling tiles from the bedroom where mold was reported. Ms. McCool looked behind some sheetrock and other tiles and said there was no evidence of chronic wetness. In the living room there was an area of light yellow coloration on the ceiling. Mr. Allard said
that sometimes that could be Mice making a nest in the floorboards/ceiling. Ms. McCool said she would contact the home owner and have them look into it. The tenant also complained about an oil spill in the basement. Ms. McCool looked under the tanks with a flashlight and was unable to locate any issues or any evidence of a spill. Ms. McCool said the landlord seems to be taking care of any issues there may have been.
The board met with the new secretary Audra Staples for office updates. Ms. Staples asked the board how they would like to handle the set up for meetings in the future. The board asked to have the agenda and the previous meeting’s minutes emailed to them before the meeting. They said that Ms. Taft usually printed a copy of all correspondence for each member’s folder. She also printed copies of all the HHAN alerts for each folder. The CDC reports go into Mr. Schneider’s folder.
Ms. Staples discussed an email from the CDC about a new piece they are offering called “Did you know”. It is a “hot topic” of health current events and you can have it put on your website for free. The CDC does all the maintenance of it and everything. Ms. Staples said she would speak to Gaylin and see if it was possible to add the segment.
Mr. Allard asked Ms. Klick if the 3rd Saturday of Oct worked for her for Hazardous Waste day. Ms. Klick said that should be a good date. Mr. Allard said they would firm up that date and vote at the next meeting.
At 7:06 p.m., Ms. Klick moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Schneider and voted unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Monson Board of Health
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