Minutes

Board of Health · from the Town's website · 1 page · 21 KB
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Winthrop Board of Health Meeting
June 14, 2022 at 6:30 pm
Harvey Hearing Room and via Zoom
Call to order: 6:45 pm
Roll call: Bill Schmidt, Chair; Jeanne Holgersen, Vice-Chair; Marianne Dalton, Member
Present: In-person: Superintendent of Winthrop Public Schools Lisa Howard;  Josh Aranov, Vasili Mallios; via Zoom: Wendy Millar-Page, Solid Waste and Recycling Manager; Bonny Carroll, Director of the Six City Tobacco Initiative; Kurt Millar.
Review of minutes—May 10, 2022, May 26, 2022: reviewed and approved, 3-0.
Tobacco sales issues: Bonny Carroll, Director of the Six City Tobacco Initiative reviews the incident that took place at Demetri Bros Liquor and Gifts liquor store. Bonny sent an adult buyer to the liquor store to try and purchase menthol cigarettes. Bonny reports the liquor store owner then took the buyer out to his car and showed her a selection of several cartons of menthol cigarettes, one of which the buyer was able to purchase. Bonny reports confronting the owner and informing him that he just sold cigarettes illegally. Bonny is asking the Board what they would recommend doing: according to legal advice from an attorney with the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, the course to take would be to issue a cease and desist order within 21 days (today being the 21st day from the incident), which is best practice, and levy a $1000 fine. Bonny states that it is up to the discretion of the Board whether to do this or not. Discussion then began of the merits of taking the actions recommended by the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards attorney vs merely issuing a warning to the owner. Bonny clarifies that the penalty is state law, which supersedes the town regulations. The Board has discretion to either issue a warning without penalty, or give notice of the $1000 fine. Consensus was made in that merely  issuing a warning would not set a good precedent, either for this particular liquor store owner or for the remainder of liquor license holders in the Town. Bonny states that the Board has leeway to allow the owner to pay the fine in installments, and that the owner has the right to appeal the fine, either before the Board or in court. Bill will draft a letter to the owner to officially inform him of the cease and desist order and the $1000 fine. Bill made a motion to have Bonny contact the store owner this evening to inform him of the penalty that would be issued, approved 3-0 unanimously.
Superintendent Of Winthrop Public Schools Lisa Howard: Lisa appears before the Board to provide an overview of what mental health services the school system provides its pupils.
Lisa enumerates the numbers of guidance counselors and adjustment counselors serving grades k-12. Lisa reports they employ one school psychologist who performs assessments and evaluations of K-12 students, and acts as a liaison with all the adjustment counselors. Lisa states that the money that resulted from COVID provided means to add adjustment counselor positions for student support especially during the virtual learning period.
Mindeaze, a school-based, community-centered positive youth development program, is a result of the partnership between North Suffolk Mental Health Association and the Winthrop Public Schools. Clinicians from this program collaborate with teachers to discuss interventions and work with students. Lisa lists the outside agencies that the school system partners with to augment provision of mental health services, such as CASA, the BEST program, North Suffolk Mental Health, the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, as well as many others.
Lisa states that multiple issues, ranging from students struggling with sexuality, engagement with peers/teachers, drug addiction, psychiatric diagnoses, and others, are all dealt with in the school system.
GoGuardian is a web-based entity that implements safety and filtering for the computer use of the Winthrop Public School students, both on site and for students’ home computer use. Lisa states that this program assists students’ ability to make wise choices about their online activity.
Lisa lists numerous other assessment tools used by the counselors/teachers to measure/monitor the mental health status of pupils from K-12. Crisis response teams exist at each school, to protect safety of all students and be proactive rather than reactive to any issues that may arise.
Diversity and inclusion programs are required for teachers, and multiple trainings are completed and mandated yearly, Lisa reports.
Lisa adds that emergency plans are in place at all of the school sites, and the school administration partners with both the Winthrop Police and Fire Departments to ensure that all emergency protocols are in place.
Lisa states that many of the programs in place are funded by grants, as she recognizes the constraints of the town budget. She states that the objective is to make sure students feel safe, so that learning can take place. Emotional wellness as well as academic progress is the ultimate goal.
Bill asks Lisa if stigmatization occurs in the school environment. Lisa states that ongoing education of both students and staff is crucial to supporting and celebrating all groups, regardless of affiliation, orientation, ability, or other differences.
Public comment: Vasili Mallios offers praise for the work that Lisa Howard has done with the Winthrop Public Schools. He points out that the pandemic has only emphasized the excellence of the programs that were already in place.
Past business:
76 Sunnyside Avenue-status: Bill reports, per attorney, foreclosure has been halted on the property, the owner has obtained an attorney and will try to complete repairs on the property, to lift the condemnation order. The town will seek receivership if this does not occur.
Josh Aranov, resident of 68 Sunnyside Avenue, reports that despite reports that the house has been vacated, there are still occupants at the property. Bill asks Mr Aranov to submit an email to the Board documenting his concerns, and the Board will report the findings to the Town and Building Inspector for further action. Bill also asks Mr Aranov to include in the email any photos showing evidence of people still living there. Mr Aranov states he will provide this. Motion made to have Inspectional Services act immediately to have the property vacated and secured, approved unanimously 3-0.
Black plastic-not recyclable regulations: Wendy Millar-Page, Solid Waste and Recycling Manager states that she is not able to attend the Town Council meeting next week, to jointly present with Bill the black plastic regulations. Bill will attend the meeting alone, with Wendy appearing on Zoom.
Wendy states that the trash regulations are currently being reviewed by the Council. Bill points out that the BOH has the authority to draft their own regulations, which supersede town ordinances. This is to ensure clarity, as having two sets of different regulations would be counterproductive.
Mass DEP new waste disposal bans—textiles, etc: Wendy reports that the town now has collection bins for textiles, and will increase numbers of bins if needed. A solution to the mattress disposal issue is still being discussed, hopefully implemented prior to the deadline November 1, 2022.
Wendy reports the recycling bins in the Town have been used frequently to dispose of dog waste. Wendy reviews that all contaminated recycling becomes trash, and that separation of trash (including dog waste) and recycling is necessary. This ensures that recycling is not added to the trash burden, as well as safeguarding DPW workers from the unsavory task of sorting feces-covered recycling.
Chickens permit—keeping of animals regulation: Bill reports that he has met with Town Councillor Tracey Honan and discussed revised keeping of animals regulation. Bill will submit a draft of the regulation at the next Board meeting in July.
Director of Public Health and Clinical Services update, opioid issues, etc: Meredith Hurley is unable to attend the meeting. Bill reports that the State has made available covid 19 home tests to all municipalities in Massachusetts. Marianne states she did not see Winthrop on the list; she agrees to contact Meredith Hurley for clarification.
Bill reports emailing Meredith on the opioid issue, concerning funding that may be available from the Attorney General’s office. Bill comments that the opioid issue may have been overshadowed by the pandemic but it has not diminished. He reports sending an email to Meredith asking if there are any updates to report on the opioid issue in Winthrop.
Overlook Drive mental health incident: Bill comments on the incident at Overlook Drive. He sent an email to Chief Delehanty and his team, as well as Meredith, commending them on the peaceful outcome of the situation.
Commissioner of Inspectional Services update: Al Legee is unable to attend the meeting. Bill reports that there is an issue with the overflowing Putnam St dumpster, emailed with photos to the Board. A fine of $300 was issued to the owner of the dumpster.
Pool safety—draft regulation: Bill reports that Al Legee has reviewed the pool regulations drafted by Bill and stated they looked good. Bill makes a motion to approve the draft of the regulation Operation of Public and Semi-Public Swimming Pools for presentation to the Town Council, approved unanimously 3-0.
258 Court Road: Bill reports an email was sent to the Board concerning rabid animals, and Al Legee has been informed.
French Square, Center Business District—public smoking, etc: Bill reports speaking to Interim Town Manager Terry Delehanty about ensuring that the area remains a non-smoking area.
North Suffolk Environmental Health Working Group: Bill reports emailing them asking about any news from their last meeting in May, which Bill was not able to attend. He will inform the Board when they respond.
MRC update: Bill reports emailing Jeanne Maggio for any updates about the Rabies Clinic, he will inform the Board when she responds.
Women’s Health Forum: Jeanne reports no new updates. She states that she has emailed Barbara Bishop about planning about speakers for the forum.
Massachusetts Association of Health Boards Annual Certificate Program: Marianne and Bill attended the certificate program that took place in Taunton. Marianne reports the program was very informative and enjoyable. The scope of issues covered ranged from legal matters to grant writing to logistics on how to run an effective meeting. Jeanne will try to attend the program next year. Bill states that he will find out from Meredith if we can get a hard copy of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards handbook, which is available for purchase from the website.
Schedule of meetings for July-December 2022: Bill reports the second Tuesdays of the month will be the designated meeting nights, with two exceptions: September 20, due to conflict with Election Day and Town Council meetings, and Thursday November 10, due to election day, as well as conflict with Town Council meeting and proximity to Thanksgiving Day. Jeanne has a conflict that necessitates changing the July meeting to Thursday July 7.
Adjournment: 8:45 pm, approved 3-0 unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Marianne Dalton, Member