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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJan 2004 Minutes North Andover Board of Health Meeting Minutes DPW 384 Osgood Street Thursday—January 22, 2004 7:00 p.m. New Business The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Welcome to Susan Sawyer, the new Health Director who will officially begin her position as Health Director on Monday,February 9, 2004. Meeting Minutes Approval of November 20, 2003 and December 18, 2003 Board of Health Meeting presented for signature. The meeting minutes for November and December were approved and signed by Cheryl Barczak, Clerk. Attorney Robert Lavoie from Devine Millimet representing Samuel S. Rogers re: 565 Osgood Street, Sewer Connection Agreement—representing Edgewood Retirement Community Mr. Lavoie was present on behalf of Edgewood Retirement Facility. Mr. Samuel Rogers sold the land to Edgewood, retaining the farm area as a working farm. Mr. Rogers was hopeful that the retirement community would make use of the land. There is town sewer on Osgood Street, but the buildings on Edgewood farm have original septic systems and are not hooked into the sewer lines. There is currently a phasing plan to go through the permitting process to build additional units on the farmland. The question posed is, rather than go through full Title 5 process, the parties involved would like to hook all buildings into the sewer lines. Mr. Markey asked how many farm buildings on the land that have septic. Mr. Lavoie presented a map for review. One of the parcels is a single family, cape style home, Lot 2A is vacant with no buildings. Another parcel has two large barns; a building referred to as the bunkhouse, with three dwellings which is where the caretaker resides and maintains an office. There is a tenant in another small building. In addition, there are also tenants who board horses on the property and have been there for 20 years. Altogether there are six units. The co-operative pre-school towards the rear of the property is owned separately. The owner would like to give tenants the ability to stay on the property for up to a year. Mr. Markey states that all of the parcels should have a Title 5 done to be sure there are no cesspools in the water table, as the property borders the Town of North Andover drinking water supply. If the leaching lines are okay, and no leakage, the systems may be okay. Ms. Sawyer suggested to Mr. Lavoie that his client could consider conducting voluntary Title 5 inspection, and if they fail,just go ahead and tie the properties into sewer. Mr, Markey January 22,2004 -North Andover Board ofHealth Meeting-Agenda Page I of 4 Board o0lealth Members:Cheryl Barczak,Clerk;Jonathan MarkeyChairman;Thomas Trowbridge,DDS,MD., Member; Health Department Staff., Susan Sawyer,Health Director,Brian LaGrasse,Health Inspector,Deb Rillahan,Public Health Nurse; Pamela DelleChiaie,Health Secretary states that he wants to find out what is out there. Another option is to not sign the purchase and sale agreement until everything is absolutely ready. Dan Ottenheimer of Mill River Consulting—regarding North Andover Septic Regulations Mill River Consulting provides septic field services for staff. Mr. Ottenheimer states that his goal would be to eliminate duplications in the Town of North Andover septic regulations and reorganize the content so that it is easier for the installers and the general public to read and understand. The last revision to the regulations was in 1997. The initiative over the next month will be to do this, and use Title 5 state regulations as the backbone of the local regulations. The Board of Health has the option to adopt additional regulations that would be more stringent than the state Title 5 requirements. Any revisions that are done will include what is over and above state Title 5. The Board will need to decide what will be acceptable in the local regulations. For example, for design requirements regarding piping, and setbacks, the state requires 50 feet away from the property line and the local regulations are 100 feet, The second initiative would be to develop a Geographic Information System which is a mapping program to look at a neighborhood or any designated area on a spatial basis to determine what health initiatives should be undertaken to better protect community interests. This program is useful to determine the locations of water supplies and understanding any wastewater issues. Consideration might be given to running a more sophisticated database than is currently used. It was noted that the current system, GeoTMS does have GIS and CAD capabilities. It would be beneficial to have the system setup listing all Town of North Andover septic systems that are required to be maintained on a regular basis with pumping records. Therefore, if reports are not received and entered into the database, the system would be setup to automatically send a letter to the homeowner to remind them to maintain their system. The third proposal would be to design a loan fund to give the Board of Health an opportunity to give residents a zero percent loan to help repair septic system problems. There is a Water Pollution Abatement fund accessible through the state. There may be a low one percent administrative fee to the Town of North Andover. Ms. Sawyer questioned who would administer this program. Mr. Ottenheimer states that this is a 2.5 million dollar fund. In Gloucester, the Tax collector and Assessor were involved in the administration of the designated funds. This program is not a loan. The funds are attached to the property tax bill as a lien, allowing referrals for the elderly, The funding could also be used for sewer connection fees as the work would be a betterment to the property, which is the purpose of the fund. The household income must be under $150,000 to qualify. It was suggested that an in-house staff person could be brought in to administer the program for the Health Department, or something could possibly be setup through Mill River Consulting. The Board of Selectmen must agree to administer this fund. The state needs to be paid back which is why the disbursement of funds must be reimbursed through the tax bill. Mr. Ottenheimer states that he will research the program more thoroughly and perhaps present an official proposal at the March Board of Health meeting to allow time to address the septic regulations as priority. January 22,2004 -North Andover Board of Health Meeting-Agenda Page 2 of 4 Board of HealthMembers:Cheryl Barczak,Clerk,Jonathan Markey,Chairinan;Thomas Trowbridge,DDS,MD., Member; Health Department Staff':Susan Sawyer,Health Director,Brian LaGrasse,.Health Inspector;Deb Rillahan,Public Health Nurse; Pamela DelleChiaie,Health Secretary Old Business 78B Jefferson Street, Village Green—Housing Progress Update Last week, Mr. LaGrasse went to court in the morning, and Ms. Sweeney had canceled her inspection that week, Therefore, Mr. LaGrasse had no update for the Chief Housing Specialist. Mr. LaGrasse scheduled and went on another inspection. At that time, Ms. Sweeney had a dumpster and storage locker rented. The Chief Housing Specialist stated that Ms. Sweeney must allow the cleaning company, Cachins to enter the condominium unit. Therefore, the cleaners will be provided with keys to access the unit. Cachins has not completed their proposal yet. Ms. Sweeney took a two week leave of absence from work, and has started cleaning the bathroom and throwing away debris. Ms. Sweeney's pets, a dog and two cats are currently being boarded as part of the stipulation to get the unit back in order. Mr. LaGrasse questioned whether the Board of Health can require the property management company to assume liability for the odor problem in the common area which is a nuisance for the other residents. There should also be a stipulation in the agreement that the pets will be permanently taken away if the requirements are not met. Dr. Trowbridge stated that he thinks Mr. LaGrasse is spending too much valuable staff time in court to follow-up with issues that have been going on for many years at this property. 458 Johnson Street—Progress Update regarding Sewer Tie-In -Attorney Dom Scalise has requested a continuance to the January 2004 meeting. Letter and cost estimate for sewer tie-in have been submitted. It was suggested again that a septic installer could volunteer to do the construction by donating $10,000 worth of service to the Senior Citizens Center, or some other non-profit organization. For example, the Senior Center would then authorize what service to provide for an applicant and then give some kind of receipt or acknowledgement that the individual making the contribution could indicate that the service performed would be a tax write-off. Animal Inspector Update—Presented by Ms. Rillahan. There are currently no interested parties to take over the duties of Animal Inspector. It was discussed that Dr. David Lindsay would continue to provide services until May 2004 when his appointment comes up for renewal. Additional inquiries will be made to other veterinarians or qualified parties to determine if there is an interest in taking over the duties of the position. Discussion and Correspondence Letter dated December 31, 2003 from Devine Millitnet, Attorneys At Law re: 565 Osgood Street, Sewer Connection Agreement—representing Edgewood Retirement Community Letter dated January 5, 2004 from Wheelabrator re: Summary of start ups and shut downs for the Fourth quarter of 2003 January 22,2004 -North A ndover Board ofHealth Meeting-Agenda Page 3 of 4 Board ofHealth Members Cheryl Barczak,Clerk;Jonathan MarkeyChairinanjhomas Trowbridge,DDS,MD., Member; Health Department Staff: Susan Sawyer,Health Director,Brian LaGrasse,Health Inspector;Deb Rillahan,Public Health Nurse; Pamela DelleChiaie,Health Secretary I Letter dated January 7, 2004 form Wheelabrator re: Mass Firing Rate Report for October through December 2003 Variance request from Sal's Just Pizza—seeking approval from the Board of Health for procedures related to storage and presentation of raw ingredients of a pizza at ambient temperature. A three page request has been submitted. Allen Gromko reviewed this variance request. Food can only be held at certain temperatures for a designated period of time, and must then be disposed of The variance refers to "Time as a Public Health Control" (FCS-501-19, 105 CMR 590.004 (H) which is part of the state food code. At the time that the business opened, the owner, Mr. Sal Lupoli was to install heat lamps in the glass cases to retain proper food storage temperatures. This was never done. The original plan could be reviewed to verify this. Ms. Barczak suggested denying the variance and then Mr. Lupoli could present another variance request. Mr. Ottenheimer suggested reviewing the CMR food code to determine what should be done when making a decision on a variance. A motion was made by Mr. Markey to table the issue and make a decision at the next Board of Health Meeting on February 26, 2004. In addition, Mr. LaGrasse will request that Mr. Lupoli will be requested to attend the next meeting. Meeting Adjournment The Board of Health Meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Cheryl Bar ak, Clerk North Andover Board of Health January 22,2004 -North Andover Board ofHealthAlfeeting-Agenda Page 4 of Board ofHealthMembers:Cheryl Barczak,Clerk;Jonathan Markey,Chair:nan;Thomas Trowbridge,DDS,MD., Member; Health Department Staffs:Susan Sawyer,Health Director,Brian LaGrasse,Health Inspector;Deb Rillahan,Public Health Nurse; Pamela DelleChiaie,Health Secretary