Minutes
Board of Health · from the Town's website · 1 page · 22 KB
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WINTHROP BOARD OF HEALTH JANUARY 12, 2021 MINUTES Call to Order: 6:35 pm Roll Call : Bill Schmidt, Chair; Astrid Weins, Vice Chair, Marianne Dalton, Member Introduction of New Board Member: Marianne Dalton RN Organization of the Board: VOTE ON POSITIONS: unanimously voted Bill Schmidt, Chair, Astrid Weins, Vice Chair, Marianne Dalton, Member Public Comment: none Minutes: DECEMBER 8 AND DECEMBER 15 submitted by Marianne Dalton. VOTE ON MINUTES: accepted and approved by Bill Schmidt and Astrid Weins, with abstention by Marianne Dalton COVID-19 Town of Winthrop: Meredith Hurley, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLINICAL SERVICES Report on Town's COVID infections: Number of infections decreasing now in comparison to post Thanksgiving, due to better adherence to guidelines for smaller household gatherings Covid deaths: over age 70. past 2-3 weeks mild infections in this age group. Work on Revere Street: Masking for crew on Revere Street taken care of by Meredith, they were compliant Indoor Testing: Indoor site will be run by Project Beacon, which also manages sites in other towns/cities in Massachusetts. Combined with change of hours of operation to 9am-1pm, online appointment system run by Project Beacon will streamline process and continue to improve traffic situation, according to Winthrop Police Indoor testing site will be at old Middle School, 50-100 appointments an hour, in the gym First responder vaccinations start 1/15/21. State has not yet provided any protocols/guidance for Phase 2 vaccine rollout School began last week with hybrid learning, outreach continues regarding quarantine/isolation protocols. Good communication between parents and school nurse Flu shots still being done, but there is no longer an end of February deadline Mental health, substance abuse, all still issues especially now, we are under-resourced Strategic plan by Boston University, to assist in continuing resources for mental health. Public Schools: Lisa Howard, SUPERINTENDENT Back to school, good mitigation via contact tracing School nurse plus task force of CNA’s (still looking to hire more) Binax training, pool testing (6 week course on this, possibly including a tech person, will apply for this, assume that Winthrop qualifies due to hybrid learning) Costs for this: initial 6 weeks free, then funding will be needed. Research on funding from Mass. Department of Education in process Will need more nurse resources to roll this out, more on this in future, Lisa will keep us updated Good rollout of in-person learning, good coordination of enforcement of protocols Good compliance of staff, in person since August Air purifiers: working to get these in place, State to get back to Lisa Past Business: Al Legee, COMMISSIONER INSPECTIONAL SERVICES 59 Cottage Avenue: collapsed chimney still has smoke emitting intermittently, attorney needs to be consulted. Wellness check will be attempted, with police or fire personnel, still no contact, will continue to work on this. Bespoke Boards: Caeli and Chris Vilandre, Owners Email from Marc Chapdelaine, LICENSING BOARD CHAIR: need for the Vilandres to apply for common victualer's license Per Al Legee, private property difficult to have private business, regulations very clear, no signage, no foot traffic, several health protocols need to be adhered to, recommend finding a viable site other than private property Caeli Vilandre: currently outreaching for options that are commercial and no longer considering working out of private home. Restaurant inspections going well, generally compliant, protocols being followed Former CVS building being demolished soon, other building permits being considered. Tobacco Sales Regulation: Bonny Carroll, Director of the Six City Tobacco Initiative D.J. Wilson, Tobacco Control Director from Mass. Municipal Association Tobacco sales regulation: changes made to draft, Need effective date added State laws are favorable to not having adult only vape/tobacco shops, no need to really include this verbiage. Maximum number of tobacco products shop permits Reduced this number to 1 out of 1500 people: 12 for Winthrop according to Winthrop population Reviewed with D.J. Wilson regulation/changes made, determined that revisions are correct and within guidelines Per draft: provide to retailers, have public hearing, provide to Town Council VOTE ON APPROVAL OF DRAFT TOBACCO REGULATION (latest one): approved unanimously by Bill Schmidt, Chair; Astrid Weins, Vice Chair; Marianne Dalton, Member. Sending final copy of draft to Sharon Sicurella at Inspectional Services to forward to local retailers to review Projected timeline for implementation: possibly May or June 2021, no foreseen obstacles due to no big changes Body Art Regulation: BODY ART REGULATION VOTE ON FINAL DRAFT: unanimously approved by Bill Schmidt, Chair; Astrid Weins, Vice Chair; Marianne Dalton, Member. Presentation of body art regulation draft to Town Council will be by Astrid Weins, perhaps in March Sharon Sicurella to email draft to the 2 businesses in Town that it pertains to. North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative: Survey of communities: behavioral health, housing, economic issues WBOH environmental health issue: pushed to include this in Chelsea, Winthrop Revere Focus on pollution from airport Grant from state to buy filters/monitoring equipment Sensors are in Revere, Winthrop and East Boston Looking for sites in Chelsea Hepa filter funding in the future Individual units for homes. Schools have them already Cost of hepa filters are $300-500 Data to be gathered to present a case to Massport to foot the bill for more funding for wider dissemination of filters in community (current grant would be $36,000 divided between several communities) Massport Logan Airport Environmental Data Report: Comments due February 22 Workplan for FY2021: High priority, medium and low Medical Reserve Corps: Jeanne Maggio, coordinator: run flu/rabies clinics with volunteers, etc. Public service announcements: Mike Cabral at WCAT, Director Possibility of PSA for WCAT: diabetes-related Also Winthrop Transcript as a venue Town Manager Report on Thursdays: another venue Board of Health Website: Reorganization/updates Schedule of Meetings for 2021: Second Tuesdays of the month are projected schedule of the meetings 6:30pm through June Next meeting February 9 Adjournment: MOTION TO ADJOURN: at 8:51pm, passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted by Marianne Dalton