Minutes
Board of Health · from the Town's website · 5 pages · 242 KB
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Winthrop Board of Health Meeting November 10, 2022 at 6:00 pm Public Hearing at 6:00 pm Harvey Hearing Room and via Zoom Call to order: 6:08 pm Roll call: Bill Schmidt, Chair; Jeanne Holgersen, Vice-Chair. Via Zoom: Marianne Dalton, Member Present: Via Zoom: Peter Gill Review of minutes October 11, 2022: approved unanimously 2-0, Jeanne abstains because she was unable to attend October 11, 2022 BOH meeting. Public comment: none Past business: an email from Al Legee, Commissioner of Inspectional Services was forwarded to all board members re 76 Sunnyside Avenue, read by Bill into the record, reporting that the property has been condemned: Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2022 1:41 PM To: Anthony Marino <amarino@town.winthrop.ma.us> Cc: Wm.Scott Wiley <swiley@town.winthrop.ma.us>; Stephen Calandra <scalandra@town.winthrop.ma.us>; Mark VanBuskirk <mvanbuskirk@town.winthrop.ma.us> Subject: 76 Sunnyside problem property Good afternoon, Please see the chain of events from today's enforcement at 76 Sunnyside Ave. Responding to the property today were Chief Wiley, Deputy Chief Calandra, Commissioner Legee , and Mark Vanbuskirk from Winthrop PD . During the inspection we uncovered squatters living in the condemned building and one occupant was removed for warrants. Multiple violations from the original order to correct still stands . As of today, the Fire Dept ordered that power be disconnected. DPW was dispatched to disconnect water at the location. We ordered the board up company to secure the property. We will move forward with our enforcement Attorney to file receivership with East Boston court immediately. Respectfully, Albert J. Legee Town of Winthrop Commissioner of Inspectional Services Mass DEP new waste disposal bans, textiles, etc: Wendy Millar- Page, Solid Waste and Recycling Manager is unable to attend tonight’s meeting. Bill mentions that the publicity Wendy has been putting out is very informative. Bill points out that the regulations already in effect will need to be updated to include the new waste disposal ban. Board of Health town website: Bill will begin to work on this with Marianne soon. Board of Health workplan for FY2023: COVID 19: Town of Winthrop, Board of Health, vaccinations, tests, ete: Meredith Hurley, Director of Public Health and Clinical Services not in attendance this evening. Community engagement event, mental health, November 16: at Bespoke Events. Dana Farber mammogram van, November 17: will be located at the Larsen Rink, on November 17, 8 am-3:30 pm, slots are available. Al Legee, Commissioner of Inspectional Services not in attendance this evening. Housing codes changes webinar, November 29: going into effect April 2023, on Zoom. 41 Putnam Street dumpster and dumpster regulations: Bill reports a second larger dumpster is now at the property. Bill states the current town ordinance for dumpsters needs updating. Grease trap regulation: will need updating at some point. MRC update: Jeanne Maggio, Coordinator of Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) not present this evening. Trash, recycling and solid waste disposal regulation: Bill states nothing new to report. Women’s Health Forum: Jeanne reports that the event was well- attended. Senator Lydia Edwards spoke at the event, also donated food. Gus Martucci of the Book Depot donated food as well. McCormack’s Flowers donated bouquets for speakers Senator Edwards and keynote speaker J. C. Monahan. Vaccines were given by the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and Meredith Hurley’s team. Massachusetts Association of Health Boards Zoom program, “Ethics and Public Health”, November 17: Email from Massachusetts Association of Health Boards sent to BOH, for a seminar. Details on what time this seminar will be held has not yet been sent out by Massachusetts Association of Health Boards. Public hearing: keeping of animals regulation: opened at 6:30 pm. Bill states that the current ordinance is severely outdated. An initiative to update the ordinance took place in 2016, but nothing resulted. New draft made by Bill, needs to be brought to Town Council for their input. Councillor Tracey Honan sent the following email which Bill reads into the public record: Thu 11/10/2022 9:41 AM Good morning Bill, | will be out of Town tonight and unable to attend the meeting tonight. In regards to the Animal Regulation | would like to express my disagreement with the idea that chickens may not be located in the front or side yard of a property. There is no public health reasoning for this aspect of the regulation. | think including this language in any future animal regulation would be setting a improper precedent for the BOH (i.e. making regulations which include language that is unrelated to public health). Please consider omitting language from the animal regulation that prohibits the construction of chicken coops in the front or side yard ofa property. Thank you, Tracey Bill points out that the proposed regulation does not prohibit keeping of chickens in the side yard. Bill reports that per Sharon Sicurella there are a total of 3 people in the town keeping chickens officially. There are likely more people doing so without permits, the extent of this is not known. Bill states that the keeping of animals regulations once finalized will need to be well-publicized, to ensure that the population is aware that permits are required. Marianne sent an email to board members on keeping of chickens and reducing infectious disease, sharing the item via screen share. Jeanne forwarded a study tonight from Boston University Public Health stating that keeping of chickens in front yards is not indicated d/t risk to public health. Public hearing adjourned at 6:43 pm, approved unanimously. Adjournment: 6:44 pm, approved unanimously Respectfully submitted, Marianne Dalton, member