Minutes of Meeting
April 6, 2009
A meeting of the Sharon Board of Health was held at the Town Office Building on Monday April 6, 2009, with the following members present: Chairman Stanley Rosen, Vice-Chair Andrew Stead, Jay Schwab, and Ed Welch, beginning at 7:35 PM. Also in attendance was Jim Andrews, Health Agent for Engineering.
The Board reviewed comments on agenda items sent on April 6th by Suzi Peck, who could not be present at the BOH meeting due to a conflict with her meeting of the Charter Commission.
Minutes:
VOTED: (Welch/Schwab) unanimously to accept the minutes of the meeting of March 23, 2009, as amended.
Next meeting
Since there are no appointments scheduled, the Board members agreed to cancel the (tentative) meeting scheduled for April 13th. The next scheduled meeting is Wednesday May 13th.
Request for reduction of testing.
The Board reviewed staff recommendation regarding a request for reduction of testing at 31 Cottage St. Test results have been consistently low.
VOTED: (Welch/Rosen) unanimously to approve the request for reduction of testing pending payment by the homeowner of septic variance monitoring fees of $100 for 2008 and for 2009.
Animal Hearing
Ed Little, Animal Inspector, was present for this discussion.
Steve Pascale, representing the Trustees of Reservations (formerly Kendall Foundation property) presented a request to have cows and chickens on the property: 346 acres with 42 acres of field. Plans 50 chickens and 6 cows to start...eventually to have about 30. Ed Little stated that the proposed use is in conformity with both current and draft regulations.
In addition, they anticipate no more than 3 roosters in the future; given the area/location Ed Little sees no problem with the Board granting a variance for the roosters.
VOTED: (Rosen/Welch) unanimously to approve the license with the following amendments: to approve 50 chickens; initially 6 cows, with growth not to exceed 10 cows annually to a maximum of 30 bovine; to approve no more than 3 roosters at any time. The Board reserves the right to remove the roosters if complaints are received and validated.
Shingles (Zostavax) Vaccine
Elizabeth Barnett, M.D., and Sheila Miller, R.N.C., were present to discuss Sheila’s proposal to provide Shingles vaccine to Sharon residents over the age of 60. Elizabeth Barnett, former member of the BOH, continues to work with Sheila on public health issues.
Elizabeth Barnett reviewed: every adult over age 40 is at risk for shingles, the major complication of which is post- herpetic neuralgia which can result in chronic pain which can last months or years, as well as ocular neuralgia. Zostavax was tested in those over 60...and was licensed in 2006 for those over age 60. Many physicians do not provide it because not many insurances cover it, and Zostavax has specific storage requirements, i.e., a separate freezer which maintains temperature of -15 degrees c (which the BOH does have); also, once the vaccine is reconstituted it must be given within 30 minutes.
Stan Rosen expressed concerns over possible adverse reactions from the vaccine; also, concern regarding various groups of individuals who should not receive the vaccine (which is a live virus vaccine). He stated he would feel more comfortable if, prior to ordering the vaccine, in addition to payment (cost of vaccine) the Health Department were to receive a communication (note/fax/call) from the primary care provider. Elizabeth Barnett stated that a note would not be necessary; Sheila Miller stated that we don’t require such communication for any other vaccines (including MMR and Varicella, both of which are live virus vaccines)...and expressed concern that requiring such communication might be a barrier to some people obtaining the vaccine. She also stated that some other health departments running Zostavax clinics
have required an M.D. note; others have not.
Jay Schwab stated his concerns about liability of the administration. He questioned whether or not providing this vaccine is part of public health mission. Elizabeth Barnett noted that the EMTs are only a few feet away (from the Health office).
Jay Schwab stated that he believes it’s important to educate the public that the vaccine is available, but repeated that he would prefer to see vaccine given in a health facility. Stan Rosen emphasized that, in his opinion, from a risk management point of view, it might be better to request some communication from the individual’s primary care physician before providing the vaccine. Elizabeth Barnett stated that this type of program is central to the role of public health, and repeated that requiring a doctor’s note could be a barrier. Jay Schwab stated that he would be more comfortable with a note provided by the physician.
Andy Stead expressed concern that we might be defeating the purpose of the program if, by requiring individuals to first contact their physician presents an additional barrier. Ed Welch was concerned lest even one person not get the vaccine because of the requirement of a physician communication. Elizabeth Barnett suggested that the Board require communication from physicians on a trial basis...so that, if it proves to become a significant barrier the BOH can rethink this requirement (of an M.D. note).
VOTED: (Rosen/Schwab) Rosen and Schwab voted in the affirmative; Stead and Welch voted in the negative — motion did not pass: to authorize the Health Department to provide the shingles vaccine and be reimbursed the cost of the vaccine; to order vaccine once payment received; and, for the first year of the program, through June 30 20l0, to require communication from the physician prior to ordering the vaccine; to revisit this requirement June 30, 2010, to see if it has been a barrier to residents.
Ed Welch stated that a note is not really necessary and may present a barrier; that people have to be honest. . Jay Schwab agreed with the note requirement. Stan Rosen stated that the Board may or may not be conservative with this requirement.
Elizabeth Barnett suggested shortening the trial period to a few months; that people would be given the packet of information when they pay for the vaccine (at BOH cost); that Jay Schwab would contact people if they receive the packet and don’t return for the vaccine to ascertain whether the
note requirement was a barrier for them.
VOTED: (Rosen/Stead) Rosen, Stead, and Welch voted in favor and Schwab abstained: to authorize the Health Department to provide the shingles vaccine and be reimbursed the cost of the vaccine; to order vaccine once payment received; and, for the first three months of the program, to require communication from the physician prior to ordering the vaccine; to revisit this requirement three months after publicity has begun, to see if it has been a barrier to residents
Sharps Collection
Sheila Miller reviewed that effective July of 2010 sharps will no longer be allowed in any household trash. She explained that she had applied for and received a kiosk for sharps collection which is housed in the Fire Department. For a number of years, Sharon has been fortunate to have a program of sharps collection provided, free of charge to us, by an area hospital. Anyone from the community bringing sharps to the Fire Department just needs to place them in a puncture-proof container (e.g., Clorox bottle) and mark them “do not recycle”....a red biohazard container is not required for placement in the kiosk. However, if residents come in with inappropriately packaged sharps, the town must make a biohazard container available. With some money donated to the Fire Department, some
biohazard containers were purchased...and these are being distributed to residents as needed...at some point that supply will run out. Then residents will need to bring sharps in appropriate containers. If they do not, we will sell quart size containers (at our cost) for the use of residents. These containers will be purchased from the BOH revolving fund, which will be reimbursed as they are purchased.
Voted: (Rosen/Stead) unanimously that, once the Fire Department supply of biohazard containers has been exhausted, the BOH may purchase quart size containers to sell to residents (at cost).....then to reimburse the revolving fund.
Animal Regulations:
The Board reviewed comments/suggestions made by residents at the public hearing held on February 23rd. It was agreed to not make changes to section 13.9F, 13.10A, or 13.11C. The Board removed the requirement in 13.10 E2 re hosing of stables.
There was a discussion about the pros and cons of licensing rabbits; it was agreed to leave the requirement in the regulations.
Stan Rosen suggested adding a statement included in Suzi Peck’s email to the Board... “Animal husbandry is not allowed by “right”, but, rather is controlled by regulation.”.It was agreed to add this statement to either 13.14 A (at the end) or to 13.13A after the first sentence. In addition, it was agreed to add to the regulations “Roosters are allowed by special permit only.”.
VOTED: (Rosen/Schwab) unanimously to make the above-mentioned changes to the regulations for the BOH to review at its next meeting.
Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement
The Board reviewed the job description/bid prepared by Linda Rosen. The Board agreed to amend the bid documents by removing the requirement of lake sampling from the job description. Stan Rosen suggested...and the Board agreed.....that there might be seniors in the tax work off program who would be willing and able to handle this responsibility for the summer months.
VOTED: (Rosen/Schwab) unanimously to authorize sending out the bid documents as amended.
Laboratory Testing
The Board reviewed a memo from Linda Rosen with bids from both G&L Laboratories and Lapuck Laboratories. The prices bid remained the same as for 2008 for town locations. Linda Rosen recommended using Lapuck Laboratories again for the 2009 lake testing, based on work done in prior years.
VOTED: (Welch/Rosen) unanimously to approve the use of Lapuck Laboratories for the 2009 lake testing season.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 P.M.
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