A meeting of the Sharon Board of Health was called to order at 7:40 P.M. on Monday evening, June 27, 2005, in the Sharon Town Offices, with the following members in attendance: Chairman Anne Bingham, Suzi Peck, Elizabeth Barnett, M.D., and Sherwin Goodblatt.
Phil Spath, P.E. - Spath Engineering
New owner, Reuven Levi, and Phil Spath, P.E., were present to discuss plans for 3-10-12 P.O. Square -- system is in failure. Grease trap was never connected; grease going directly into the system. They want to eliminate the Bioclere and increase the leaching field..taking advantage of an available 15 feet. Board members felt this would not be sufficient as a permanent solution, and suggested that, as a long term repair, perhaps the Bioclere can be refurbished or perhaps another I/A system installed Some adjustments in pumping rate have been made temporarily....system is not overflowing at the moment. Anne Bingham encouraged them to hook up to the grease trap ASAP. Mr. Levi has approximately $35,000 in escrow account from financial assurances; approx. $900/month going into escrow account.
Mr. Spath and Levi were asked to return to the BOH in the near future for an update.
Jennifer Aycock - Application for Licensure as Massage Therapist
After several attempts to obtain verification from Southern Cross University, Elizabeth Barnett received and reviewed materials from Paul Orrock, Head of School of Natural and Complementary Medicine. Dr. Barnett interpreted the documents to indicate that Ms. Aycock did not meet their requirements...or the BOH requirements.
VOTED: (Barnett/Peck) unanimously to notify Ms. Aycock that she does not satisfy the requirements of the BOH for licensure. The Board wishes Ms. Aycock well in future endeavors.
Continued Collaborative Discussion 3rd discussion
Present: Eric Hooper, Ben Puritz, David Grasfield, Marcia Liebman, Paul Lauenstein, Linda Callan.
Eric Hooper reported that the perk rates found by Weston and Sampson at the Wilber site were very good; the site is covered by about 7' of permeable sand and gravel. In response to a question from Suzi Peck, Eric Hooper responded that the site could handle all the flow from a renovated Wilber School.
Suzi Peck stated that the sense of the previous collaborative session was to treat the Wilber School as a separate problem from the larger issue of the center of town. Sherwin Goodblatt commented on problems already existing in center of town, e.g., behind Starbucks, the apartments on Pond Street, the Brook Road area.
Paul Lauenstein suggested that a professional consultant should be retained to advise the town on the available alternatives for dealing with the problem of septic wastewater disposal in the town center. He said this issue is constraining |Smart Grown in the town center near the train station, the library, shops, etc, and forcing the Planning Board to look at using valuable town land to meet the requirements of 40B. He strongly suggested a specialist should be hired to look at the big picture and suggest alternative solutions. Sherwin Goodblatt raised the question of the possibility of sewers. Suzi Peck seconded the idea of retaining a professional to analyze what development the town can support with septic systems......to provide us with our environmental limits. She asked if the Water
Department would provide funds for hiring a wastewater specialist.
Eric Hooper stated there is currently a project planned to provide us with some of this information. He said the are talking to the consulting firm of Camp, Dresser & McKee (CDM) about studying the larger question of future development in Sharon, part of which relates to the wastewater treatment issue. A meeting with CDM had just been rescheduled to July 7th. Eric Hooper said the study would cost around $20,000. Suzi Peck asked if the Planning Board and BOH could help craft the scope of the RFP for this project. David Grasfield agreed that the BOH and Planning Board should be involved in early stages. Eric Hooper stated that part of CDM’s task would be to solicit input from boards to see what questions need to be answered. He suggested that it might be redundant to
involve those Boards at this stage. He further said that the study was being done on the initiative of the Board of Selectmen, and would reflect the BOS vision for future development.
Suzi Peck suggested that the RFP go out under the auspices of all the policy-setting boards, i.e, BOH, Planning Board, Concom, and perhaps the ZBA. Also, perhaps, the Water Management Advisory Committee and the Wilber School Committee. She said there are competing visions for the future development of the town that involve concerns such as the environment, tax revenues, affordable housing, and Smart Growth. She suggested that there was broad support from the attendees to broaden the base of writers for the RFP. Anne Bingham added that the answers depend on the questions, and she felt the money would be better spent if the policy-making boards had an opportunity to have input in formulating the questions. Paul Lauenstein stated that how the RFP is framed deserves input from a variety of
stakeholders....we need professional help once RFP is properly framed. Eric Hooper stated that the questions should be framed by a third party with input from some board members. David Grasfield said that at this point it might be appropriate to re-evaluate the process to be more inclusive of the agendas of other boards and committees. Eric Hooper offered to turn control of the process and the writing of an RFP over to the Board of Health.
Suzi Peck framed the issue as a question of how much development can Sharon support without causing unacceptable health problems and/or environmental degradation; financial implications must be considered as well. She said we first need a vision of where we’re going.....we don’t have that yet.
VOTED: (Bingham/Barnett) unanimously to send a letter to BOS asking for an opportunity to comment and be involved in the preparation and administration of the RFP in the early stages. Also...to suggest that other policy-making boards be involved, e.g., Planning Board, Concom, ZBA.
The next collaborative meeting (4th in the series) will be held on July 25th at 8 P.M.
Minutes of Meeting: May 16, 2005
VOTED: (Bingham/Barnett) unanimously to accept the minutes of May 16, 2005.
Minutes of Meeting: June 6, 2005
VOTED: (Bingham/Barnett) unanimously to accept the minutes of June 6, 2005.
Minutes of Meeting: June 13, 2005
VOTED: (Bingham/Peck) Bingham, Peck, and Goodblatt voted to accept the minutes of June 13, 2005.
Barnett abstained.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 P.M.
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