Minutes of Meeting
April 24, 2006
A meeting of the Sharon Board of Health was called to order on Monday, April 24, 2006, at 7:30 P.M., in the Sharon Town Office Building, with the following members in attendance: Anne Bingham, Chair, Suzi Peck, Sherwin Goodblatt, and Stan Rosen. Jim Andrews, Health Agent for Engineering, was also present.
Minutes of March 27,2006
VOTED: (Goodblatt/Bingham) Goodblatt, Bingham, and Peck voted to accept the minutes of March 27, 2006, as amended. Rosen abstained.
Minutes of April 10, 2006
VOTED: (Bingham/Rosen) unanimously to accept the minutes of April 10, 2006, as amended.
General Business and Discussion Items
1. Board members discussed developing a policy for questions arising regarding the existing number of bedrooms in a home, i.e., when there are discrepancies between the assessors’ card and the existing number of bedrooms according to the homeowner. Jim Andrews will provide the policy used by the Building Inspector in such cases. Suzi Peck will review the Building Dept. policy on this issue and will frame a suggested policy for the BOH. To date, the Board has had two variance requests where this issue has arisen.
Re: Scullane-379 South Main Street: Jim will provide info to ZBA re the pending BOH issue : (assessors’ card and prior tax bills reflect 2 bedroom home; new septic designed for 3 bedrooms.)
2. Sherwin Goodblattt expressed frustration with the Board: His concerns included: in his opinion, discussions go on too long; too many ongoing pending issues are not settled; he feels the Board needs additional policies in order to accomplish goals; he would like to see time limits set by the chair for agenda items. He stated that he will notify the Board of Selectmen that he will not accept reappointment to the Board.
Suzi Peck responded: it takes time to promulgate regulations because of other issues which need to be addressed; sometimes variances need to be continued for a variety of reasons; she felt that the BOH handles items more expeditiously than other public entities; she noted the lack of time....all board members are volunteers; she further noted that the Board can’t rush into decisions...that rushing leads to bad judgment; that the Board must be thoughtful, ,must listen to everyone who comes before the Board for hearings.......must explore every option....must be sure to do things by the book. She stated that policies have been developed as they are needed.
3. Anne Bingham noted for the record that she had consulted with Brett Rowe at DEP and, as Jim Andrews had previously suggested, DEP has, on occasion, granted variances for sideline setbacks alone (in new construction....when no other variances are requested).
4. Odor complaint: The Board reviewed the history of complaints regarding the (to date) unexplained odor in the Bay Road/Larason Farm Road area. Board members also reviewed the report of the Fire Chief’s investigation of the complaints. It was noted that the Fire Chief suggested to the residents that they contact the Fire Department in the evening or early morning if/when the odors are noticed.
5. Jack Lapuck - Request for increase
The Board reviewed the request by Jack Lapuck for an increase in funding for his position of Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement. It was noted that his position has been level-funded for ten years. The Board reviewed data from a survey conducted on comparable communities, and, in light of the fact that there has been no increase for many years, would be willing to request an increase for Dr. Lapuck. However, board members noted that it is too late to do so in this budget cycle; an increase will be requested for FY08. It was also noted that the issue of whether or not Boards of Health must comply with the State Procurement Law (Chapter 30B) requires further research.
6. Proposed Dunkin’ Donuts 17 P. O. Square
The Board received a revised request for variances at this location. Anne Bingham noted that the BOH should have been included in discussions last year before the proposal became a fait accompli. She noted again that DEP has given sideline setbacks (only) for new construction, and relegate the issue to the local BOH.
Anne Bingham stated that her inclination is not to act on setback variances, but to move toward less water use, e.g., waterless toilets. Suzi Peck reviewed that when Article 7 was revamped, the BOH tried to deal with setback issues. She further noted that setback variances are a fundamental public health concern for the town of Sharon, particularly due to our uniqueness (lake/septic/public wells). In her opinion, to grant such variances would be to cave on our environmental concerns.
Anne Bingham further discussed an area project where a professional engineer is designing a nursing home with waterless toilets....this relates to greywater regulations. Anne Bingham will attempt to put this engineer in touch with Jim Miller to discuss such a possibility for this location; to see if he could come forward with a design flow with no or few variances and reduce the flow greatly with the use of waterless toilets. Jim Andrews noted that he wants a new septic system at that location. Suzi Peck stated she might agree to sideline variances if composting toilets were used.
7. Massage Regulations: discussion of revisions was postponed since Elizabeth Barnett was not present.
8. Article 7: Revisions will be discussed on May 10th.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 P.M.
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