Lincoln Board of Health
Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2008
PRESENT: Frederick Mansfield, M.D., Chairman
Arnold Weinberg, M.D.
Diane Haessler, R.N.
Brent Reagor, Public Health Administrator
Elaine Carroll, Secretary
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The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. The minutes from the December 12, 2007 meeting were approved as written. The next meeting is scheduled for February 6, 2008.
The members welcomed Brent Reagor, the new Public Health Administrator for the Town of Concord and Town of Lincoln. Mr. Reagor gave the members a brief introduction and said that he was working with the Town Administrators of both Towns to work on the renewal of the contract for services between the two Towns. He felt that this would be a good time to look at the structure of the contract and the needs of Lincoln in the future. He will keep the members informed on the progress. He said that either he or Stan Sosnicki would attend the monthly meetings. Stan does all the day to day activities in Lincoln and Gabi White continues to work on camps, which have increased by 33% this year. They continue to work with the day camps. There are no new sites so the operators are aware of their
responsibilities. The State has stepped in to bring the big camp operators in line to make sure that they are complying. There is still a concern with hazardous foods being prepared and the need to be sure that anyone preparing hazardous foods understands the risks involved. They are going program by program to see what works and what can be improved. He said that a higher risk facility may be inspected several times a year and a lower risk only the minimum inspections.
Report:
Dave Henley of the East Middlesex Mosquito Control for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts came before the members for an update on what is done in Town under our $10,000 contract with the State. Mr. Henley said that they have mosquito monitors around the Town to collect mosquitoes that may be carriers of West Nile virus. He said that 7 were sent to be tested in 2007. He said that there were 5 cases of West Nile virus in Massachusetts in 2007. There were no cases in horses because owners have been vaccinating them. He said birds have become resistant to the disease. He said that EEE runs in 3 or 4 year cycles and we may be entering a period of less now. The cycle typically ends when you have a dry period as we did this year. Southeastern New Hampshire had 3 cases but no
cases in Mass. this year. They maintain ditches by hand and there are 428 feet of ditch between Mackintosh Lane and the schools. Men go out to clean out the ditches suggested by Tom Gumbart, Conservation Director and he felt that perhaps they should spend more time finding more ditches to clear. He said that they have some problems with Buzz Constable and cleaning out the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust land because he would prefer to have the land wetter. They now own their own track monitor excavator after years of leasing one and his assistant has talked to Tom about using the excavator in Lincoln. It is meant to work in wetlands. In October and March they line up ditches to clean out. Storm drains are the Town’s responsibility to clean out and other towns do treat storm drains but not in Lincoln and Winchester. It was thought that it might be useful to treat some catch basins in Town and could talk with someone
from the DPW to find out where the catch basins are, as long as we are not harming the environment. Dr. Weinberg felt that it would be helpful to get out some literature on standing water management to prevent breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Mr. Henley will work on a 1 page sheet on how to manage standing water and will e-mail any literature to Elaine Carroll to be forwarded to the members. Dr. Mansfield will talk to Tom Gumbart about storm water management.
Other Business:
Burial Agent for Lincoln – The members reviewed a letter from Susan Brooks, Town Clerk, asking for an appointment from the Board for the position of Town Burial Agent. Dr. Mansfield made a motion to officially appoint Susan Brooks as the Town of Lincoln’s Burial Agent. Dr. Weinberg seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Bills Paid – Three bills paid this month for the Town of Lexington for the Aug. Hazardous Waste Collection in the amount of $354.06; Sept. Hazardous Waste Collection in the amount of $588.41 and Oct. Hazardous Waste Collection in the amount of $585.74.
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There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine M. Carroll
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