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January 18, 2001    MHOA Executive Board Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 9:35 AM by President Ruth Clay in Room 222 at the Newton City Hall.  She introduced Tom Carbone and Joanne Martel, MHOA members attending the Executive Board meeting.  Also introduced was Russell Henderson, a new Executive Board member from western Mass.  Paul McNulty suggested sending the Executive Board meeting announcements to everyone in MHOA who has e-mail.

Also present at the meeting were Robin Chapell, Vice President, Phyllis Boucher, Treasurer, Donna Moultrup, Secretary, Dawn Sibor, Executive Director, Jennifer Sullivan, Joel Hollis, Holly Detroy, John Canning, Jay Walsh, John Malone, Peter Mirandi, Linda Shea, Kathleen MacVarish, John Higgins, Joe Godzik, Johanna Prindiville, Greg Erickson, David Naparstek, Richard Day, Jean Marie Kent-Joyce, Steve Calichman, Fredric Cantor and guests, Dr. Susan Lett, James Ida and Elissa Laitin.

Minutes:  A motion was made by John Canning and seconded by Jennifer Sullivan to approve the minutes of the October 26, 2000, meeting.  Vote was unanimous.  A motion was made by Jennifer Sullivan and seconded by Linda Shea to approve the minutes of the annual meeting, November 1, 2000.  With the addition of the names of Richard Day, Peter Mirandi and Dawn Sibor to those present, the vote was unanimous.  Two names on the attendance list could not be identified by the Secretary or the Executive Board present during this meeting.

Treasurer's Report:  $25,000 was moved from the money market account.  MHOA has $1,398.54 in the black, which is not a lot, but is very good given the financial plan.  A budget planning meeting will take place later this month.  A motion was made by Jennifer Sullivan and seconded by Kathleen MacVarish to approve the yearly Treasurer's report.  Vote was unanimous.  A preliminary conference report was also presented.  A motion was made by Jennifer Sullivan and seconded by John Canning to approve that report.  Vote was unanimous.

Executive Director's Report:  MHOA is ready to file for 501C3 tax status.  The lawyer who has been volunteering her time has been quite busy.  Dawn suggested that perhaps we think about offering a stipend of some sort so that this project could rise to the top of the "to do" list faster.  After much discussion, David Naparstek made a motion, seconded by Greg Erickson, that we offer as much as $5,000 and that the filing be completed by March 31st.  Dawn would be responsible for the negotiations.  Vote was unanimous.
April is Public Health Month and Dawn suggested that MHOA think about doing something special.  Jennifer suggested that a letter be drafted discussing all of the various things that public health does for the community.  It could be e-mailed to all of the communities and could be put on their letterhead.  Dawn will have a draft letter for the February meeting.  Ruth Clay is working on having the ABCs of public health put on a poster that could be used.  Jennifer Sullivan and Joe Godzik are working on a timeline listing the effects of legislation on public health.  Dawn could use some help contacting real estate boards in the different areas so that she can set up Title 5 trainings for the realtors, as was done last year.  Dawn presented information on a "train the trainer" workshop on body art issues.  There was a digression at this point to discuss the model body art regulations.  The State regulations will be released in the next couple of weeks and Ruth Clay will then send out a copy of the proposed MHOA model regulations. MHOA's draft include some additions that the State didn't feel comfortable including because there isn't even enabling legislation at this point.  MHOA members will receive the MHOA draft either by e-mail or snail mail.  The general feeling was that there would not be a demand for trainers in the communities at this point, but there may be in the future.  Currently the communities are just struggling with getting the regulations in place.  Presentation of the Executive Director's report was suspended at this point so that the representatives from DPH could give a brief presentation on chickenpox surveillance.

DPH  on Chickenpox Surveillance:  A revised draft of the provider reporting form was distributed.  If school nurses are currently reporting cases, they should continue that practice.  It was suggested that DPH might want to survey communities to see how many school nurses are already reporting cases.  DPH does want to promote vaccination of exposed students who have not been vaccinated or had the disease, so timely reporting is important.  Vaccination within 3 to 5 days of exposure can reduce the number of cases.  It was suggested that DPH also attend the regional nurses' meetings.

Continuation of Executive Director's Report:  There is a workshop on West Nile Virus in Albany, New York, and up to six MHOA members can attend.  So far, Peter Mirandi, Fredric Cantor and Linda Shea have expressed interest.  It was suggested that perhaps someone from the south shore might like to go.  Anyone interested should contact Dawn as soon as possible.  Dawn presented information on a new coalition, "Health Now Massachusetts," and it was voted unanimously for MHOA to join.  There was considerable discussion about the next quarterly meeting and its relationship to MEHA's annual meeting and the one day workshop planned on West Nile Virus.  It was decided that the March 15th Quarterly Meeting would be in Dedham and the topic would be molds and air quality.  May 10th is MEHA's annual meeting and it was suggested that the all-day workshop be held sometime in April.  Fredric Cantor is planning that workshop and Paul McNulty and David Naparstek volunteered to help.  Additional support will be needed on the day of the workshop.  Information was presented on the "Smokeless States Grant," for which the American Cancer Society is the lead agency.  They are looking for in-kind support, which Dawn can offer, and a financial commitment.  After some discussion a motion was made by David Naparstek and seconded by Fredric Cantor that MHOA not give a financial contribution.  The motion carried with two negative votes.

The following new members were unanimously voted:

Regular Members:
Steven Stathis, Environmental Health Director, Springfield
Ronald Tolin, Assistant Food Inspector, Edgartown
Lawrence Perry, Sanitarian, Falmouth
Thomas Pachico, Health Agent, Tisbury
Kathleen Esposito, Sanitary Inspector, Taunton
Deborah Palmer, Health Agent, Eastern Franklin County
Gina McNeely, Director of Health, Montague
Veronica Warden, Assistant Health Agent, Mashpee
Amy Carey, Environmental Health Specialist, Braintree
Barbara Kulig, Sanitarian, Springfield
Thomas Dion, Health Inspector, Amherst
William Fisher, Health Agent, Medway
Deborah Rogers, Health Agent, Georgetown
Robert Landry, Assistant Sanitarian, Marlboro
Karen Rose, Director of Public Health, Medford
Frank Singleton, Health Director, Lowell

Associate Members:
Mohamed Nabulsi, Assistant Director DPW, Nantucket
Catherine Hudson, Director of Food & Nutrition, Jordan Hosp., Plymouth
John Delano, CEO, Delano & Associates, Taunton
Cynthia Barran, Environmental Analyst, DEP, Lakeville
Robert Barrows, Title 5 Consultant, Hingham
Mark Thompson, Environmental Consultant, North Hatfield
David Lajoie, Felco, Inc., Orleans
Keith Kidd, Environmental Health & Safety Officer, Boston College
Mary Mulready, Public Health Nurse, Braintree
Yvonne Glendon, Occupational Health & Safety Officer, Tufts University
Linda Gold-Pitegoff, Public Health Nurse, Hingham

President's Report:  Ruth started her report by discussing the structure of the meetings and ways in which more time could be left for meaningful discussion.  It was decided that all committee reports and as much other material as possible should be in writing prior to the meeting.  Mass. Partnership for Food Safety Education is in need of a new MHOA representative.  George Smith has represented MHOA well for four years and would like a replacement.  Holly Detroy volunteered to call George and discuss the responsibilities and possibly be the representative.  Ruth will be meeting with the Commissioner and Paul Jacobson on January 22nd to discuss the number of new regulations impacting public health.  MHOA, MEHA and MAHB are also meeting concerning this issue.  There is strong feeling that DPH is violating the spirit of the mandate law and that re-drafting old regulations does increase the burden without offering additional resources.  Peter Mirandi suggested that the various regions also need to meet.  A letter from Dan Ottenheimer in Gloucester had been distributed which also addresses this same subject.  The article on public health that appeared in the Boston Herald seems to have raised some voices on the issue.

DEP:   The annual series of seminars is all planned.  Various members of MHOA have taken responsibility for the different sites.  They will need CEU slips from Dawn.

WEBSITE:  Greg Erickson asked that the regional representatives look at the list of towns in their region and check for e-mail addresses. The book is passed around at the quarterly meetings but some get missed and some cannot attend.  We need to get as many members on the e-mail list as possible since more and more information is being sent in that format.

Beavers:  Richard Day reported on the policies regarding beavers.  Basically, trapping and water control are the two solutions.  If the Board of Health considers a situation a public health emergency, then the conservation commissions have to abide by that decision.  A grant process for local funding is in process.  Policies and training information should be ready in the next couple of weeks.

Communicable Disease Advisory Committee:  Joanne Martel is MHOA's representative to this committee, although she stated that it would be nice to have a couple of additional reps from MHOA.  The responsibility is being shifted to the laboratories in the new drafts of policies and procedures for communicable disease reporting.  Final drafts are expected in February and training will be provided.  Joanne feels that the committee is not always realistic about the resources available to cities and towns, such as computers and e-mail.  Phyllis suggested that perhaps the MAHB technology survey could give hard data on the resources available.

Conference:  The conference committee will meet January 23rd, in Room 222, Newton City Hall; bring a bag lunch.  399 was the final attendance count for last year's conference.  Robin is looking for subcommittee chairs.  Joyce Sullivan from Hull won a year's membership in MHOA at last year's conference.

Meeting adjourned at 12:25 PM.  The next meeting will be February 15, 2001.

Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Moultrup, Secretary

In Attendance: Ruth Clay-President, Robin Chapell-Vice President, Phyllis Boucher-Treasure, Dawn Sibor-Executive Director, Peter Mirandi, Jennifer Murphy, Jennifer Sullivan, John Higgins, Kathleen MacVarish, Jeanmarie Kent Joyce, Jim Nugent, Richard Day, Thomas Carbone, Joel Hollis, Joe Godzik, John Canning, Russell Henderson, and Priscilla Neves.

The meeting opened at 9:35 A.M.

Minutes:  Motion was made by John Canning to accept the minutes for the January meeting with the correction of the amount $1000 in the Executive Director’s report and that Jim Nugent was in attendance. Seconded by Joe Godzik. Vote-Unanimous.

Treasurer’s Report: Phyllis would like to switch banks to get a better rate.  The finance committee meeting consisted of Phyllis and Ruth.  The committee will meet March 8, 2001 before the Conference committee meeting.  Motion was made by Kathleen MacVarish to approve the treasurer’s report.  Seconded by Jeanmarie Joyce. Vote-Unanimous.

Executive Director’s Report:  Dawn Sibor is putting together two training courses on Bloodborne Pathogens and A Practical Guide to the Implementation of Body Art Regulations for April 2nd in Braintree. The cost will be $100 if you enroll in both courses.  Jane Gallahue will be one of the instructors. Some cities and towns that already have licensed tattoo artists are Salem, Peabody, Whitman and Quincy.

DPH is working on an inspection report form for body art inspections.  Thank you Jennifer Murphy for the form.  Thank you to Ruth Clay and Jane Gallahue for working on MHOA’s version of the model regulations for Body Art.

Our next quarterly meeting will be on March 15, 2001 on Mold and Indoor Air (or a fungus among us).

Public Health Month is this April.  Dawn will get us the abc’s of public health and maybe a timeline (that Joe Godzik and Jennifer Sullivan are working on) with a cover letter to all health departments.

Associate members can become full members without being voted if their job has changed and they fit MHOA’s definition of a member.  Motion was made by Kathleen MacVarish  to accept Michael Pepe, Louise Hebert, Darren Meyer, Jane Crowley and Cheryl Kelly as new regular members to MHOA and Pio Lombardo and Angela geyer as associate members to MHOA.  Seconded by Jennifer Sullivan. Vote-Unanimous.

Dawn Sibor is writing the Hep C grant to ask for funds to develop a power point presentation for schools, civic groups and the public on Hep C.

President’s report: Ruth Clay spent much of her time since the last meeting on the MHOA model Body Art regulations.  She will bring a lot of copies of them to the next quarterly meeting.

Holly DeTroy with be our representative on FEAC.

Ruth Clay represented MHOA at a DPH meeting.  In attendance were 5 health agents from Western Massachusetts and 15 representatives from DPH.  Ruth informed the western Massachusetts’ agents to use MHOA to advocate for them.  DPH cannot help the   amount of regulations that we have to enforce but they stressed that they will work with us to enforce them.  Paul Jacobsen also came to the last Local Public Health meeting and said that he will spearhead a small subcommittee to work with legislatures on educating them on the roles of local health departments.

Franklin Regional Council of Gov’ts authored a great report entitled Regional Solutons to Rural Municipal Health Challenges.  Ruth Clay e-mailed it to us and everyone should read this report.

Tax Status: The two attys that are helping us on this are committed to mailing the necessary application for the tax status exemption by the enbd of this month.  MHOA needs to make two changes, one on the mission statement and one on the articles of amendment.  Motion made by Kathleen MacVarish to make the necessary changes needed to apply for the 501C3 Tax Status.  Seconded by Jennifer Sullivan. Vote-unanimous.  MHOA should send a big thank you to the attorneys for their pro bono work with a letter in their local newspaper acknowledging them and they should receive a  plaque at our conference.

State Senate Bill 637: This bill would require tenants to file a complaint with the Board of Health before they can withhold rent.  The MA Law Reform Institute asked us to go against this bill.  If it passes this could be an issue in smaller health departments where the tenant might have to wait for an inspection.  Motion made by Phyllis Boucher not to support the bill because it disproportionately effects our smaller members negatively.  Seconded by Richard Day.  Vote-most in favor, Peter Mirandi against.

Mass Municpal Mgrs Association:  They are asking for MHOA’s feedback on Chapter 41 section 108M allowing town managers to contract with health agents.  In some towns the Boards of Health do the hiring not the town manager but a town doesn’t have to accept this provision.  In some ways it can benefit the health director because they do not have to follow the town’s personnel by-laws as far as how much vacation to start with (in order to get the best possible candidate). Tom Carbone will look into this further and keep us updated.

Trust Fund: They want to raise CHO registration fees.  Motion made by Kathleen MacVarish to oppose the increased fees.  Seconded by Linda Shea. Vote- 3 in favor, 8 opposed.  Motion made by Peter Mirandi to support the increased fees.  Seconded by Joe Godzik.  Vote- 8 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention.

DPH: Priscilla Neves informed us that the retail food homepage will be ready in a few weeks.  25 people are on a food mgr training resources subcommittee.  Recertification of the food mgrs certification is still an issue (in how many years should someone be recertified?).Another issue involves satellite kitchen (like for HESSCO).  The definition of highly susceptible populations poses another problem. The State is in discussions with the FDA on this one and should have an answer for us in a few weeks.  Changing gloves is still controversial.  DPH will have a policy on when gloves should be changed (eg. after handling money) soon.  DPH is working on an access program (similar to DEP’s for septic) for health agents to use.

A special thank you to Kathleen MacVarish for developing the “cheat sheet” for the food inspection forms!  Copies will be handed out at the next quarterly meeting.

Jennifer Murphy informed us that the beach regulation hearings will be coming up.  Please let DPH know how to simplify the regulations.  The definition of a sanitary survey needs to be better defined.  Jennifer is working on a standardized housing inspection form (that will be much improved from what we have) and a prototype housing order.  Sample forms and letters will also be helpful.  There will be NO CHANGES on the Recreational Camp Regulations for this summer.  Our members are still having problems with cory checks and deciding what a legitimate cory check is.  Jennifer will bring a legitimate cory letter to the march quarterly meeting.  Paul Tierney will be at our next meeting.

DEP: John Higgins is helping with a food module on access.  A pilot module will be ready by the end of Spring/early summer.  Everyone should have a module to use by the end of summer.  The DEP workshops scheduled for next week do not have that many people signed up yet.

West Nile Seminar: The Seminar will be on Tuesday, April 10th at Holy Cross.

Beavers: Richard Day informed us that DPH just finished putting together a packet on beavers for health agents.  He will set up regional sessions on beavers for us. On how to handle problem calls.

Conference Committee:  The next meeting will be on March 8, 2001 in Newton Town Hall at 11:30 A.M.  All are invited to attend.

Web site: The MHOA website shows body art.  Greg has been great about putting new members on the website.

Scholarship Committee:  The forms are all set and will be distributed at the March quarterly meeting.

Massage Committee:   The meeting was cancelled and the next one will be in April.

Finance Committee:   The next meeting of the finance committee will be on march 8, 2001 at 10:30 in Newton Town Hall.

Meeting adjoined at 12:15 P.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Chapell.

The meeting was called to order at 9:35 AM by President Ruth Clay at Vinny Testa's in Dedham.

Also present at the meeting were Robin Chapell, Vice President, Phyllis Boucher, Treasurer, Donna Moultrup, Secretary, Dawn Sibor, Executive Director, Jennifer Sullivan, Joel Hollis, Holly Detroy, Peter Mirandi, Linda Shea, Kathleen MacVarish, John Higgins, Joe Godzik, Greg Erickson, Richard Day, Jean Marie Kent-Joyce, Steve Calichman, Fredric Cantor, Howard Wensley, Epi Bodhi, Joan Barry, Paul McNulty, Jim Nugent, Jennifer Murphy, Johanna Prindiville and guest, Paul Tierney.

Minutes:  Minutes from the February 15th meeting were approved with changes.

Treasurer's Report:  Report accepted as presented; balance as of 2/28/01 is $10,191.92.  Board approved movement of $25,000 from the conference account to the money market account.

Executive Director's Report:  Peter Mirandi and Greg Erickson received tokens of appreciation from Dawn Sibor for suggesting the title of today's quarterly meeting.  The 501c3 tax application has been submitted.  Fourteen people have signed up so far for the program on body art being co-sponsored by MHOA and the MA Safety Council.  The letter and a copy of the ABC's of public health have been sent to each community as part of Public Health Month.  There is a junior student at BU who is available for a summer internship.  It was suggested that this be announced at the quarterly meeting in case there is a health department who could use her.  Health Departments have received a manual on communicable disease produced by DPH, and a training is being planned for late summer/early fall.  MHOA would co-sponsor the training.  A workshop on bathing beaches, similar to the one held in Boston in May, 2000, is being planned for the beginning of June at Umass Amherst.  A workshop on water supply and drinking water regulations will also be happening in April with a number of co-sponsors including Tufts and DEP.  MPHA is relocating and Laurie Stillman offered to share the space with MHOA at a cost of $20,000 per year.  The Board expressed regret that MHOA was not in a position to take advantage of this offer.  There were no new MHOA member applications this month.  Todd Dresser is coordinating a toxics use reduction conference to be held in Marlboro on June 5th.

President's Report:  Ruth Clay asked that committee chairs e-mail her with details of any committee meetings and items to be put on the monthly agenda.  There was discussion about the funding of the proposed public health month poster, the ABCs of public health.  Grants and company sponsorship were discussed.  There was strong feeling expressed that MHOA wanted this project to belong to the organization and not have corporate sponsorship.  The total cost is not available yet.  Ruth acknowledged the large turnout at the meeting and again encouraged everyone to invite new people to attend the executive board meetings.

Jennifer Murphy was then asked to report on the various housing forms that had been sent to the executive board members.  Some expressed concern at the length of the forms and the cost of producing them in NCR format.  There was discussion of various ways in which health departments already handle housing inspections.  Jennifer will continue to work on the project and update MHOA.

There was discussion of House Bill 3290 that addresses minimum qualifications for health agents and boards of health.  Greg Erickson made the motion to support the bill and Peter Mirandi seconded it.  Ruth Clay stated that she would investigate it further and report back at the next meeting.  Jennifer Murphy discussed a day camp bill that will move some day camp licensing responsibilities to the Office of Child Care Services.  She will e-mail the bill number and the website to the executive board.  MHOA will support House Bill 3380 that changes the maximum fine for a non-criminal disposition to $1,000.

DEP REPORT:   Johanna Prindiville reported that the annual board of health seminars went very well.  There were 434 references to good or excellent on the evaluations.  There were 41 not good or not useful responses.  Comments included the need for microphones, better- trained speakers, more light, enough restrooms, and heat, resulting from a problem that day at Wilmington High School.  John Higgins reported that there will be a Title 5 101 course for new health agents ready in June or September.  Paul McNulty had a question concerning recycling and the DEP website.  Johanna stated that she would call Joe Lambert about it and get back to Paul.

DPH REPORT:  Paul Tierney, who replaced Richard Waskiewicz as the Director of Food Protection, was the guest speaker at the executive board meeting.  He stated that he felt enforcement and training are two big issues.  Everyone needs to understand the significance of public health issues and not just enforce the regulations.  They are working on developing a policies and procedures manual which will be put on the website.  They are currently working on a definition of "wholesale," and working out a system of cooperation between local inspectors and the State.  He wants very much to maintain open communication between his office and the MHOA.  His e-mail address is p.j.Tierney@state.ma.us; telephone is 617-983-6760.  He has committed that someone from his department will attend the monthly MHOA meeting.  They are losing some staff and it will be a difficult 12 to 18 months ahead.

Jennifer Murphy will try to set up a visit by the CORI unit for the next executive board meeting in anticipation of the camp licensing season.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  Fredric Cantor reports that everything is in place for the West Nile Virus Conference on April 10th.  Donna Moultrup, Linda Shea and Paul McNulty volunteered to help with registration on that day.  There will be a videotape shown at the conference and copies may be available.  The Albany meeting on West Nile Virus went well.  Representatives from several states were able to discuss the situation.
We are applying for the incident command training grant again this year.  If we do not get the grant, MEMA will prepare a training for us.

DPH REPORT:  Howard Wensley arrived later in the meeting and gave this additional information concerning DPH issues.  House Bill 3337 will have OCCS license "classroom" camps and it more carefully outlines the responsibility of Recreation Departments when they sponsor camps, and thus exempt them from licensing.  DPH will be visiting camps this summer that they have not visited in the past.  Camps operated on State land will be exempt from the camp licensing regulations, although the responsibility of local boards of health with respect to State operated facilities is still being investigated by the Attorney General.

Beaches bill has passed and has certain requirements for both the local health departments and the State.  Out of the 750 beaches in the State, 1/3 are doing weekly testing already.  The laboratories used will not need to be certified by DEP for wastewater and water quality.  The State is considering preparing a bid proposal for labs to do water testing.  The two-year requirement for variances will remain.  They will add that a Certified Health Officer or Sanitary Engineer can perform a sanitary survey, but that will only be required if a variance is proposed.  The local mandate decision was that this is not a new mandate.

SCHOLARSHIP:  The applications for the Amy Naparstek scholarship are due May 1st.

CONFERENCE:  There has been good progress on the program.  There is one long session each day and then several shorter sessions.

FOOD PROTECTION:  Holly Detroy reported that a consumer advisory concerning caterers will be ready soon.

BEAVERS:  Training will be available soon on the beaver advisory.  Applications for variances will go to the State.

MHOA WEBSITE:  You can't change pages on the website currently due to an ATT computer crash.

MISCELLANEOUS:  Robin Chapell is planning to enter MHOA's website in a contest.

Meeting adjourned at 11:50 AM.  The next meeting will be April 19, 2001.

Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Moultrup, Secretary

---

April 19, 2001          MHOA Executive Board Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 9:37 AM by President Ruth Clay, Room 222, at the Newton City Hall.  Present were Secretary, Donna Moultrup, Executive
Director, Dawn Sibor, John Canning, Russell Henderson, Johanna Prindiville, Holly Detroy, Jennifer Sullivan, Nancy Allen, Peter Mirandi, Dan Ottenheimer,
Jay Walsh, Paul MacNulty, Richard Day, Jim Nugent, David Naparstek, Greg Erickson, Joe Godzik, Kathleen MacVarish, and John Higgins.

Minutes:  The March 15th minutes were initially tabled due to the lack of a quorum, but soon thereafter were unanimously accepted with three changes.

Treasurer's Report: Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, could not be at the meeting today, but Ruth Clay distributed copies of the monthly report.  The balance as of 3/31/01 is $14,892.55.  A complete accounting of the DEP seminars and the West Nile Virus Conference will be ready for the next meeting.

Executive Director's Report:  MHOA's tax exempt application is complete except for a couple of financial pieces.  These have been given to the Accountant and hopefully the entire package will be ready to mail by the end of the month.  MHOA did not receive the Hepatitis C grant.  The reason given was that our planned project would duplicate a program that already exists, which was similar to the reason we were given last year. Allison Hackbarth is looking for feedback on the proposed agenda for the DPH Surveillance trainings.  Six or seven locations are being planned throughout the State with a format similar to the food code trainings.  It was suggested that the list of dates be reviewed by Sandy Collins to make sure there is no conflict with the public health nurses' trainings since the nurses are one of the target audiences.  Dawn has 85 signatures on the MHOA letter of support for Representative Cahill's tobacco bill and she will be mailing the letter soon.  The training on body art and blood-borne pathogens went so well that another one will be held in June.  There was a unanimous vote to have MHOA join the National Nutrition Alliance, since we support the goals and there is no fee.  MHOA is a co-sponsor of the Toxic Use Reduction Training that will be held on June 5th.  A Title 5 training for realtors will be held in Reading in June.  A question from Dawn concerning the new prescription financing plan in the State led to the planning of the June quarterly meeting.  It was decided that we have several topics that only require a small amount of time each, so that the June meeting would be a "potpourri" of important public health topics:  prescription drug plan, the CORI process, mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease.

The following new members were unanimously voted:

Regular Members:
Joseph Reale, Environmental Analyst, Beverly
John Martin, Inspector, Fall River
Robert Tinkham, Health Agent, Carver
Antone Furtado, Sanitarian, Fall River

Associate Members:
Bob Martin, Chairman, Townsend BOH
Carl Bruno, Student, Northeastern University
Nancie Cordella, Epidemiologist, MDPH

President's Report:  The poster of the ABCs of Public Health is in its final draft.  Ruth Clay actually took some new pictures for the poster and there were several suggestions at the meeting for additional pictures.  It has been decided to give the poster out as part of the conference materials, since the cost decreases with the number ordered.  There was a hearing on 4/18/01 on the creation of an air quality bureau in the Health Assessment division of MDPH.  Basically MHOA supports the concept of a special office on air quality, but has no particular feelings about where the bureau is located.  MDPH is now in the process of looking for a full-time person to be the contact person for local boards of health.  They are hoping to have someone by the end of this fiscal year.  Charlie Kaniecki from Western Mass. will be attending the executive board meetings in the future.  Ruth hopes that this will facilitate planning and decrease any duplication of trainings.  There are several health care bills being heard on Monday, but the bill numbers were not available for this meeting.

At this point in the meeting, Ruth introduced Dan Ottenheimer from Gloucester, who was representing the North Shore Health Agents Group, which was started in 1995.  The members of the group are genuinely concerned about the increasing number of what they believe are "unfunded mandates," such as the beach and beaver regulations.  The Legislature is not funding the projects and the health agents are left to fight for funding on the local level.  The North Shore group is reaching out to Mass. Municipal hoping that it might net health departments more representation on Beacon Hill.  Dave Naparstek stated that we should make sure MAHB is also on board.  Ruth felt that all of these ideas are consistent with the goals of the Coalition for Public Health and invited Dan to the next meeting to be held in Framingham, Friday, April 27th, 9:30 to 11 AM.  Dan stated that Gloucester is willing to be a test case regarding a fight against unfunded mandates in the courts.

Report from DEP:   John Higgins reported that the Title 5 101 series is being planned for June and September.  They are changing the computer system at his
office again, so he can be reached at his home e-mail septic system@mediaone.net.  DEP is starting to attend the North Shore Health Agents' regional meetings and a group is getting started on Cape Cod.  It was suggested that we think about creating these kinds of groups across the State.  It was suggested that the MHOA regional representatives take an active role in that process.  Ruth Clay will put that discussion on the May agenda.

Newsletter:  Articles for the next newsletter which will be published in June are due in the 3rd week of May.

Education Committee:  170 people attended the West Nile Virus Conference and it was agreed that it was excellent.

Solid Waste:  Nancy Allen reported that the mercury thermometer exchange project was going well.  She held an exchange on a Wednesday afternoon in                 Shrewsbury and 500 people attended!  It was noted that Todd Dresser from Burlington was doing an excellent job of education on the mercury issue.

Leadership Institute for Local Public Health:  Kathleen MacVarish reports that they are piloting the CDC's local governance assessment tool in several
communities and the results will hopefully be ready by the next meeting in May.  Depending on the results, the tool could possibly be used throughout the State.  A couple of the working groups in the Institute have been combined so that there are only three working groups at this point.

Beavers:  Richard Day reported that two half day training sessions on the beaver policy are planned to take place, one in Tewksbury on May 17th and and one in Lee on May 23rd.

Mass. Partnership for Food Safety Education:   Holly Detroy reported that she had attended her first meeting of this group.  The goal is apparently to develop educational materials, although the process and end results were not totally clear after this first meeting.  She will continue to participate.

Mass.  Waterworks:  Peter Mirandi reported that the conference was very good.  He noted that the role of local boards of health is not widely known and that these opportunities to share that information are valuable.

New Business:  David Naparstek reported that the behavioral risk survey results were about to be released.  It was suggested that the topic be included in the June quarterly meeting "potpourri."

Meeting was adjourned at 11:25 AM.  The next meeting will be on May 17, 2001, Room 202, Newton City Hall.  A Conference Committee meeting will take place immediately following that meeting.

The meeting was called to order at 9:44 AM by President Ruth Clay, Room 222, at the Newton City Hall.  Present were Vice President, Robin Chapell, Secretary, Donna Moultrup, Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor and, Linda Shea, Joel Hollis, Kathleen MacVarish, Russell Henderson, John Canning, Johanna Prindiville, Howard Wensley, Joe Godzik, David Naparstek, Beth Altman, John Higgins, and Charlie Kaniecki.

Minutes:  The April 19th minutes were accepted as presented.

Treasurer's Report: Reports were distributed on the Body Art Conference, the West Nile Virus Conference, the four annual DEP Conferences and the March Quarterly Meeting.  The West Nile Conference had a net total of $3,134.23, so that the newsletter costs will be well covered.  The balance as of April 30, 2001 is $9,297.83.

Executive Director's Report:  The application for the change in tax status is still in process.  There are some financial documents that must be completed before the application is submitted.  The Title 5 trainings for real estate agents are being planned for September and October.  A proposal was made for MHOA to join MPHA (Mass. Public Health Association) as an associate member for a fee of $150.  There was much support voiced for MPHA, particularly Laurie Stillman, regarding the organization's contribution to the Coalition for Public Health.  The vote was unanimous.  Plastic hospital bracelets were distributed for MHOA members to sign their names as part of the campaign to raise the cigarette tax by $.50.

The following new members were unanimously voted:

Regular Members:
Becky Sarah, Director of Public Health, Chelsea
Chris Sargent, Sanitarian, Gloucester
Tom Corcoran, Sanitarian, Gloucester
Richard Weschrob, Health Officer, Holbrook
Colby Kramer, Health Agent, Weston

Associate Members:
Dorothea Frederico, Clerk, Grafton BOH
Patricia Cicchetti, Public Health Nurse, Watertown
Eileen Birch, Public Health Nurse, Grafton
Carol Devanney, BOH Chair, Tyngsboro
Richard Kirejczyk, BOH Vice-Chair, Grafton
Shawn McAvey, BOH Chair, Grafton

Various pieces of legislation were then presented, although the house and senate numbers were not available for all of them.  There was some feeling expressed that
it was difficult for the executive board to respond to each of the bills with the amount of information available.

H3291 - regards a statewide smoking ban; text is on the MAHB website; MHOA has already supported this bill.

S472 - regards piggeries and Boards of Health's ability to address the nuisance aspects; vote was unanimous to oppose this bill.

S491 - regards amending chapter 111, Section 31 so that Boards of Health must get Town Meeting or City Council approval for rules and regulations promulgated by Boards of Health.  Vote was unanimous to oppose this legislation.

S496 - regards presenting septic plans to Town Meeting if the Board of Health has set more restrictive perameters than DEP.  Vote was unanimous to oppose.

H3728 - regards BOH's ability to promulgate regulations; must get approval of Town Meeting or City Council; text available on Statehouse website.  (Is this the House version of S491?)

H3290 -regards having DPH inspect 250 camps this summer; would make OCCS inspect camps with primarily classroom learning; would eliminate the ability of municipal recreation departments to just put their name on a camp.  If they are not running the camp, then they cannot get an exemption by just lending their sponsorship to the camp.  The vote on this bill was one for, 2 against and the remainder abstaining.

It was requested that additional information about the legislative bills be sent to members prior to the meeting if possible, so it would not take as much time at the meeting, and that everyone would be better prepared to vote.

Dawn is investigating National Medical Library Grants that are awarded three times per year.  They are approximately $12,000 and could assist boards of health, particularly in the western part of the State obtain Internet access.

Videotapes on the West Nile Virus were distributed to those who had ordered them; the remainder will be mailed.

Kathleen MacVarish suggested that a copy of the poster that is now in process by sent to the National Environmental Health Association.

President's Report:   Ruth Clay reported that she has met with Paul Jacobson regarding a new position being created of a local health representative.  MHOA was supposed to review the job description before it was posted.  It will be e-mailed to the Executive Board when Ruth receives a copy.  Howard Wensley reported that a public health nurse will also be hired to work as a liaison with local boards of health.  These positions are a direct result of the work being done by the Coalition for Public Health.  Robin Chapell will ask Steve Ward of MEHA to assist her in writing an article for the newsletter concerning these positions and the work of the Coalition.  Nancy Allen will be attending a solid waste conference as MHOA's representative.  There was discussion concerning trying again to get health officers included in the enhanced retirement benefits of police, fire and building inspectors.  Since it is always subject to local approval, there was some sentiment expressed that it was not worth the trouble.  No action was taken.

Report from DPH:  On the body art front, there has been one incident of a 13 year old with a severe tongue infection reported.  Information concerning camps has been mailed, although everyone has not received it yet.  They will be doing camp inspections this summer, but will try to inspect camps they have not inspected in the past, and the ones that needed follow-up.  There are funds in the House budget for the Beaches bill, but MHOA could be active in trying to get the funds in the Senate bill also.  Even if money is included in the budget, it will not be available until July 1st, so that cities and towns will have to have the water tested and then be reimbursed in some way.  An RFR was sent to laboratories, but only four responded.  The price range was $15 to $95 for modified E.coli and enterococcus with courier service.  G & L Laboratory in Quincy will have a contract.  Some members stated that the going rate was $18.50, which is lower than the $22.50 offered to DPH.  Howard is going to look into that.  Some towns are also being used as depots for water samples to assist with transportation issues.  The Attorney General has ruled that the camp and pool regulations do not apply to those facilities located on State property.  This left an unanswered question about camps and pools operated by private entities on State property.  Howard believes that a policy will be coming out soon stating that only camps and pools actually run by State entities are exempt from the regulations.

Report from DPH, Food and Drug:   Beth Altman reported that a food section is being established on the DPH website and it will be available within the next couple of weeks.  FEAC will be meeting again on August 1st.  There are two working groups investigating resource lists and the issue of recertification.  Other groups are looking at special issues such as definitions and courses and exams in alternate languages.

Report from DEP:  John Higgins will have a new e-mail address soon.  He will make sure that we get the address.  Johanna Prindiville distributed a fact sheet that describes a change in the policy that required deleaders to dispose of lead paint chips as hazardous waste,  greatly increasing the cost.  She also distributed information on a one-day workshop regarding the Emergency Management System in Massachusetts.  This conference will be given in four locations in the month of June.  Fredric Cantor reminded the group that he is still working on a program like that for the fall.

Newsletter:  The newsletter is due out in mid-June.  Articles are still needed, but several suggestions came up during this meeting.

Coalition for Local Public Health:  Robin Chapell reported that the Coalition has created seven recommendations and a new draft of the position paper will be done.  There will be a vote on by-laws in the future.  Robin feels that the most positive news is that the group is working very well together.  The work of the Coalition is the result of a grant originally received by Laurie Stillman of MPHA, Massachusetts Public Health Association.
Conference Committee:  There will be a meeting today to finalize the preliminary program.

New Business:   Due to the success of the most recent seminar and the high interest expressed, MEHA is discussing having an annual housing seminar.   Ruth Clay acknowledged Charlie Kaniecki, who is instrumental in coordinating programs for the western part of the State.  MHOA is investigating more western Mass. locations for meetings.  Fredric Cantor suggested "social marketing" as a topic for a plenary speaker and Robin had heard a very good speaker.  It will be investigated for the conference.  Russel Henderson suggested that MHOA send a congratulations card to Jane Swift on the birth of her twins.  Worcester has banned the sale of mercury thermometers.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:38 AM.  The next meeting will be on June 21, 2001, at the Holiday Inn, 265 Lakeside Avenue, Marlborough, prior to the quarterly meeting.

The meeting was called to order at 9:35 AM by Vice-President, Robin Chapell, at the Marlborough Holiday Inn.  Others present were Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Secretary, Donna Moultrup, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor, Joel Hollis, Russell Henderson, John Canning, Paul McNulty, Dennis LaCourse, Charlie Kaniecki, Jim Nugent, Linda Shea, Jennifer Sullivan, Howard Wensley, Steve Calichman, Holly Detroy, Joe Godzik, Nancy Allen, Beth Altman, Richard Day and Lou-Ann Clement.

Minutes:  The May 17th minutes were accepted as presented.

Treasurer's Report: The balance as of May 31st was $5,233.90.  Money was moved from the money market account to cover expenses.  This is the earliest in the yearthat the organization has had to take money out of the money market to cover expenses.

Executive Director's Report:  This report started with a discussion concerning various legislative initiatives.  There was unanimous approval for Paul McNulty's spport of the non-criminal disposition legislation which would allow cities and towns to use non-criminal disposition without having to go to Town Meeting or City Council to adopt specific rules and regulations to which it would apply.

There were numerous other pieces of legislation but it was expressed that this was an overwhelming task for the executive board and that perhaps a legislative subcommittee should be appointed.  There was also concern about the ability to "lobby" if and when MHOA became a 501c3 organization.  It wasstated that MAHB has that tax status and it does not seem to inhibit that organization.  The group believes that scrutiny of legislative initiatives is extremely important.

MHOA's 501c3 tax application requires Ruth Clay's signature and will then be ready to mail.  The decision may take as much as a couple of months.

Mass. Safety Council training on blood-borne pathogens received mixed reviews.  The afternoon session on the implementation of body art regulations was very good, but the morning session on bloodborne pathogens was very disappointing.  It only lasted half of the allotted time and participants did not feel that it was very helpful.  Dawn is investigating the possibility of getting the money for the morning session refunded.

The following new members were unanimously voted:

Regular Members:
Ginger Bacon, Health Agent, Georgetown
Debra Hawks, Asst. Health Director, Brewster

Associate Members:
Mary Ellard, Board of Health Chair, Dedham

There has been no decision made yet about our grant request for emergency management training that is planned for this fall.

The Disease Surveillance trainings are set for 9 am to 3 pm, with lunch included, at seven sites this fall:  9/10 Canton, 9/11 Shrewsbury, 9/12 Middleton, 9/24 Burlington, 10/1 State Lab, 10/10 Centerville and 10/16 Hadley.

Emergency Response Training Associates offers a CPR and chokesaving course and Dawn asked if MHOA should think about co-sponsoring some of these
courses.  The cost is $60 which gives participants a certificate good for two years and a CPR mask.  The group thought that the course was probably too expensive to compete with some local courses being offered.  Some members suggested that Emergency Response Training Associates should contact the Mass. Restaurant Association about offering courses.

The Toxic Use Reduction Conference was very good, but both Dawn and Phyllis felt that it wasn't well marketed.  The course descriptions did not adequately describe the content of the courses, which were very good.  Phyllis suggested that MHOA could work with the Toxics Use Reduction Institute to put on a similar program for the public.  138 communities are currently involved in mercury reduction projects.  Dawn Sibor, Nancy Allen and Richard Day volunteered to contact Todd Dresser in Burlington to discuss the possibility.

Charlie Kaniecki discussed the possibility of developing a housing training course for new inspectors.  Howard Wensley stated that there is CDC training
money available and he should know more in a couple of weeks.  He would liketo address issues with the regulations first and then put together a training
manual or modules.  The group expressed great interest in developing the course, but did not want to delay.  There was unanimous approval for a motion
to support the concept of basic housing training and having MHOA be the vehicle for the training.  There was also a motion to begin to develop the training immediately.  This motion was also approved with Joel Hollis and Charlie Kaniecki abstaining.

John Cicotelli from DEP has offered to do a training on innovative alternative septic systems.  Dawn will e-mail him and ask for a detailed proposal before we decide.  Dawn reported that there is an Innovative Food Grant RFA that was sent to MHOA.  Beth Altman from DPH explained that Food and Drug will probably apply for this grant.  With the grant, they would like to set up trainings regarding variances under the new food code since it has to be innovative and appropriate for other states as well.  Beth reported that they already have a grant with the Div. of Epidemiology and will be hiring someone this summer hopefully to work on comprehensive food inspector training.  The group expressed strong feelings about Food and Drug taking on another grant when we so desperately needed the basic food inspectors' training.  Motion was made for MHOA to not support the grant proposal.  Motion carried with Joel Hollis abstaining.

Dawn discussed the receipt of flu information from Donna Lazorik at DPH.  Donna Moultrup, as a member of the Flu Pandemic committee, reported that the 2001 flu season was going to resemble last year's experience rather than a return to the previous flu seasons as everyone had hoped.  Information will be going in the newsletter and the MHOA members on the committee are very vocal and well represent health departments' interests.

Lou-Ann Clement asked for the Executive Board's support on the initiative to include health inspectors in the same retirement category as building inspectors.  This had been brought up at the last meeting also.  Since it will require a local vote, there is not much hope that it will net anything, but there was a unanimous vote for the motion to support the issue.  Karen Springer, Richard Day, Greg Erickson and Jim Nugent expressed interest in helping.  Dawn Sibor will send a broadcast e-mail on the subject to see if anyone else is interested in helping with this issue.

Report from DPH:  Howard Wensley reported that there is money in the House and Senate budget for beach testing reimbursement.  It will probably be a 50%
reimbursement after the fact.  He is hopeful that DPH will be able to provide the signs.  Local boards of health will be notified prior to DPH doing camp inspections in their jurisdiction.  There is proposed legislation concerning inspections of State-operated facilities on Paul Jacobson's desk.  Lou Ann Clement asked what liability there might be if boards of health did inspections when requested and Howard Wensley stated that he didn't believe there would be any.

Report from DPH, Food and Drug:   Beth Altman reported that new seafood wholesale regulations will be out soon; that there is a committee to develop new bottled water regulations and they are working on new frozen dessert regulations.

Newsletter:  Joe Godzik reported that there is enough material for a six-page newsletter which could be published as scheduled, or they could wait for additional material.  Executive Board voted to move forward with a six-page newsletter.

Leadership Institute:  There was another meeting in May and the meetings are planned for next year already.  Robin Chapell feels that, while not a lot of tangible things have been accomplished, there has been a good exchange of ideas and some good will generated.

Website:  Greg Erickson reported that MHOA.com needs to renew its name and it makes sense for us to do it for a longer period of time, both financially and
because we want to keep the name.  It was a unanimous vote for the motion to renew for five years.

Amy Naparstek Scholarship:  Linda Shea announced that two winners had been selected and they will be introduced at the quarterly meeting today:
Shelley DelGenio from Wilmington and Elaine Wozny from Essex.  Both are working towards degrees in environmental geography and work as health agents.

Conference Committee:  Conference planning is proceeding.  Dates are November 7, 8 & 9.

New Business:  Steve Calichman reported that 71% of Waylands' wetlands are not being treated for mosquitoes this year because the manager of the Great
Meadows feels that it has a negative effect on the ecosystem.  A joint letter by the health officers in five of the surrounding communities was sent to the manager and to the legislative representative, but so far it has fallen on deaf ears.

Dawn Sibor stated that there was a low enrollment for today's quarterly meeting and everyone please complete the evaluations so they have some feedback on the topics.

Meeting was adjourned at 12 Noon.  The next meeting will be in September.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna L. Moultrup
Secretary

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September 20, 2001    MHOA Executive Board Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 9:38 AM by Vice-President, Robin Chapell, at the Worcester Holiday Inn, site of the Quarterly Meeting.  Ruth Clay, President, and Donna Moultrup, Secretary, arrived shortly thereafter.  Others present at the meeting were Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor, Richard Day, Jim Nugent, Joel Hollis, Jeanmarie Kent-Joyce, Priscilla Neves, Joe Godzik, Nancy Allen, Holly Detroy, Linda Shea, Kathleen MacVarish, Charlie Kaniecki, Jennifer Sullivan, John Canning, Russell Henderson, John Higgins, Johanna Prindiville, Paul McNulty, Dennis Lacourse, Bette Sanderson, Steven Calichman and Fredric Cantor.

Minutes:  The June 21, 2001 minutes were accepted as presented.

Treasurer's Report:  Phyllis stated that she will be taking another $3,000 out of the money market and putting it into the checking account to cover expenses.  This was not unforeseen and she feels that we are on target.  The checking account currently has approximately $4,000 in it.

Executive Director's Report:  The workshops on communicable disease and surveillance, co-sponsored by MHOA and the Department of Public Health, have attracted 200 people.  $5,500 has been collected with very few expenses.  Allison Hackbarth from DPH is doing an excellent job.  It is expected that we will hear about the application regarding our change in tax status by the beginning of November.  The TURI (Toxic Use Reduction Institute) grant was submitted and we should be notified of the results by the end of the month.

The following new members were unanimously voted:

Regular Members:
Barbara Stanley, Deputy Director, Health & Human Services, Springfield
Leonard Izzo, Jr., Env. Health Specialist, Wellesley
Robert Moore, Sanitarian, Shrewsbury Health Department
Kathleen Phelps, Health Agent, Tri-Town
Yolanda DeGaetano, Health Agent, Northboro
Laurie Purcell, Health Inspector, Lowell

Associate Members:
Cynthia Bishop, Food Science Student
Judith Cone, Public Health Nurse, Bedford

President's Report:  A Nominating Committee will be appointed concerning the elections at the annual meeting at the conference.  Please let the Committee know what positions you are interested in.  A letter of support was sent to the CDC for a grant application from DPH's Indoor Air Quality Program.  The grant would help them respond to indoor air quality issues including residential questions.  There may be money available for food training from the Leadership Institute.  Robin Chapell and Ruth are attending the Coalition for Public Health's meetings.  Each organization can have three members so there is room for another person to attend.  We need to discuss who should represent MHOA.  Ruth attended a meeting with Paul Jacobsen and representatives of other statewide organizations to discuss progress on the hiring of a DPH staff person who would be their liaison with local health departments.  A job description still has not been created.  They are also waiting for the draft report of the Coalition's work thus far.  There is concern that there is a lack of communication between divisions of DPH.  Ruth also met with Debra Klein-Walker concerning the flow of grant money to just one of the public health organizations in the State.  Ruth volunteered to write a descriptive piece on the five organizations working together on local public health.  She invited Debra Klein-Walker to the MHOA conference to increase awareness.  Tom Collins, Director of the Office of Local Mandates, attended the last Coalition meeting.  Determining the cost of new regulations, such as beaches and beavers, is the role of that office.  He is on the side of local health departments.  There was a unanimous vote to accept the President's Report.

Report on Title 5 Barriers to Affordable Housing:  Ruth asked if there were comments on the draft report by the Barrier's Commission Subcommittee that had been distributed by e-mail prior to the meeting.  John Higgins stated that the basic conclusion of the subcommittee was that changes to Title 5 made on the local level, rather than Title 5 itself, were the biggest barriers to creating additional affordable housing.  It was decided that MHOA needs to have a representative on this committee.  Other comments on the report should be sent to Dawn Sibor.  Peter Kolodziej from the subcommittee will be invited to the October Executive Board meeting.

DPH Report:  Priscilla Neves reported that the FDA was sponsoring an event that afternoon and the following morning on standardization programs.  This will be a topic at the November conference also.  They are hoping to have the inspector training program ready by the first of the year.  They are hiring another epidemiologist to help with food- borne illness investigations.  The 2001 federal food code is due out soon.  They will be looking at the changes and also reviewing any changes needed to 105 CMR 590.000.  Changes to the latter will require a public hearing.  They are looking at a three-pronged program with 1) inspector training; 2) FDA grant for HACCP training and 3) foodborne illness investigation training.  They are also looking at some kind of field training after one year. DPH has developed guidelines for foodservice certified food manager training.  There is an issue about whether non-English speaking participants can have a translator for the foodservice exam.  Holly Detroy spoke in favor of allowing translators.  There is online training through the FDA's ORAU, Office of Regulatory Affairs University.  Ruth asked Priscilla to write up some information about the training available through the ORAU for the November conference.

FEAC:  Brian Lockard is the MHOA representative to this committee.  There needs to be an alternate when Brian can't attend.  The meetings are quarterly in Westborough.  Please let Ruth Clay know if you are interested.

Charlie Kaniecki reported that he had met with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and they are committed to having another district health office.  Charlie has given a training on housing inspections that hopefully could be given statewide.  Charlie's job description had been offered as a model for the new person to be hired.  It is felt that the jobs are very different.  Ruth Clay asked for volunteers to look at Charlie's job description and comment on it.  Donna Moultrup and Joe Godzik volunteered.

DEP Report:  John Higgins reported that Cynthia Giles is the new DEP Assistant Commissioner and Mike Rotondi is the new Division Director for Municipal Services.  Both can be reached at DEP's 1 Winter St. address.   John will send the names to Ruth Clay so that they can be invited to the Conference.  Title 5 trainings for new board members is being offered.  New staff members could attend those trainings, although they are not exactly geared to staff.  They could set up a professional training if it is needed.  There is no fall soil evaluator training this year.  DEP is looking into the problem of having courses available regularly for a reasonable cost.  MEHA is planning a workshop on pressure dosing systems.  A short course on wastewater treatment is being planned for 3/24/02 and 3/26/02.  He has a good videotape on septic systems available and will write up a short description for the newsletter.  On 10/1 there will be a meeting of alternative technology vendors regarding nitrogen removal.  Several of the systems are no longer available for residential use and there is a gap in the market currently.  There is information on the test fields at buzzardsbay.org.  The waste site clean-up group is looking for a room to give a presentation; it may be a good December quarterly topic.

Johanna Prindiville discussed possible February workshop topics, including solid waste capacity, indoor air, mercury disposal, construction debris, demolitions and others.  Please send ideas to her.

Education Committee:  The topic of pressure dosing is the fall joint workshop with MEHA.  We did not get the grant to do incident command and emergency planning workshop.  We may work on that for the spring workshop.  Other topics mentioned were bioterrorism, mold, and building management issues.

Conference Committee:  There will be a mini-golf tournament in Yarmouth.  Chicken is being added to the steak or lobster menu for the clambake.  Plan A & B should be switched on the hotel information.  The more expensive package has lunch.  The Silent Auction is in need of items and would like them delivered early if possible.  Linda Shea is chairing that committee.

Pension Committee:  The members met with Paul Casey, Representative from Winchester and Stoneham.  He had excellent advice on how to proceed.  He will be invited to the next quarterly meeting.  The next meeting of this committee will be September 27th.

Newsletter Committee:  They are in great need of articles.  John Higgins suggested that all members who can should receive the newsletter by e-mail to save on postage costs.  Ideas for this issue included the sushi guidelines on the Food & Drug website, update on the Leadership Institute, septic video and integrated pest management.

New Business:  Kathleen MacVarish has resigned from the Leadership Institute planning committee.  Fredric Cantor expressed interest in attending.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 AM.  The next meeting will be October 18th.

The meeting was called to order at 9:45 AM by President, Ruth Clay, in the Newton City Hall.  Present at the meeting were Vice President, Robin Chapell, Secretary, Donna Moultrup, Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor, Russell Henderson, Jeanmarie Kent-Joyce, Jennifer Sullivan, Joseph Godzik, Kathleen MacVarish,  John Higgins, John Canning, Joel Hollis, Linda Shea, Holly Detroy,
Fredrick Cantor, David Naparstek, and Johanna Prindiville.

Minutes:  The September 20, 2001 minutes were approved with two changes.

Treasurer's Report:  Prepared report was not distributed because several program check amounts had not been finalized.  December report will be more accurate.

Executive Director's Report:  MHOA's 501c3 tax status has been approved.  The attorney will be sending us the approval letter and information concerning the ramifications of the tax change.  Those making purchases on behalf of MHOA will no longer need to pay sales tax, but special forms will be needed. Seven trainings on Disease Surveillance have been held.  There have been 240 participants and the workshops were excellent.  The last couple of trainings also included some information on bioterrorism.  Specific bioterrorism training starts next week.  Two people from each community may attend.  The
December Quarterly meeting was supposed to be on retirement options, but it may be more appropriate to move that topic until later and focus on bioterrorism.  Dawn will investigate that possibility.  Next Leadership Institute is scheduled for December 5th.  Laurie Stillman from the Coalition for Local Public Health will have an article in the Boston Globe this weekend on the subject of public health infrastructure.  There was considerable discussion concerning communication, or lack there of, from the Department of Public Health on the recent anthrax issue.  It was finally decided that Ruth Clay would write a letter on behalf of MHOA explaining how we see our role
and asking how we might be able to help.  MHOA's TURN grant application has been accepted.  Trainings will be planned for January and February.

The following new members were unanimously voted:
Regular Members:
Leon Bethune, Sr. Toxicologist, Boston Public Health Commission
Mario Salvatore, Health Agent, Middleton
Brian LaGrasse, Health Inspector, North Andover
Christine Connolly, Health Compliance Officer, Arlington

Associate Members:
Stacey Lane, Public Health Nurse, Norwood
Bette Sanderson, Public Health Nurse, Easthampton

President's Report:  The new Assistant Commissioner for Resource Protection, Cynthia Giles, and the new Director for Municipal Services, Mike Rotondi, were invited to the MHOA conference.  Holly Detroy has agreed to be MHOA's representative to FEAC.

Action/Discussion Items: There has been considerable discussion at FEAC
concerning the issue of allowing translators to be present during testing for the certified food manager's exam.  The Committee voted to allow the testing companies to make the decision as to whether they would allow translators. Ruth Clay will write a letter to Paul Tierney on behalf of MHOA supporting the idea of allowing translators.  There was some discussion about towns granting variances for individuals that cannot pass the exam.  In general, compliance with the certified food manager regulation is good.

There were no DPH representatives at this meeting.  David Naparstek
distributed a letter concerning bioterrorism trainings.  Fire Departments will also be getting training.  David explained that he had been contacted by Nancy Ridley and asked to participate at very short notice in discussions on the recent anthrax incidents.  Again there was discussion about the lack of information coming from DPH.

Report from DEP:  John Higgins reported that Title 5 trainings for Boards of Health had started in the Central and Northeast region.  A notice concerning the Southeast and the Cape will be coming out shortly.  There is a video available through John.  Johanna Prindiville distributed a survey on topics desired for the February DEP workshop.

Conference Committee:  There will be approximately 30 exhibitors; it has been a difficult year for companies and several who have attended in the past cannot attend this year.  There are 25 to 30 items in the Silent Auction already.  Linda Shea requests that she receive the items beforehand if possible.  Robin reported that there are 140 registered so far.  There are a couple of changes in the program and Dawn will e-mail those to people.  Robin thanked the program committee for their great work.  We have only one more year on the contract for the Sheraton Hyannis Resort, so this is the time for us to discuss changes if desired.

Affordable Housing:  Glenn Haas discussed the Barriers to Affordable Housing Commission's report.  MAHB and MHOA did not have representatives on this committee.  The Commission was divided into two subcommittees:  one to investigate additional Title 5 regulations by communitities and whether they were based on science; the other looked at zoning bylaws and wetlands issues. The report included three major findings:  1) law should be changed so that local regulations are submitted to DEP with the scientific information to back up the regulation.  It should not be effective until 30 days after it is submitted to DEP and it should be effective one year after the regulation is passed.  The issue of these regulations being retroactive has not been addressed yet.  The full Commission supports DEP approval and regulations being retroactive.  2)Training will be a major requirement; and 3) move from a 30 to 60 minute perc rate for new construction.  Because this would require training for designers, boards of health and contractors, this piece should be delayed for
2 to 3 years.  George Heufelder gave a brief perspective on behalf of boards of health.  Final subcommittee reports are not in yet.

Education Committee:  Fredrick Cantor reported that Environmental Health and Engineering is willing to do a presentation on mold and air quality.  He will discuss the idea with MEHA.

New Business:  Fredrick Cantor reported that he has been attending meetings on revised bottled water regulations.  He will keep us updated.

FEAC Update:  The Committee is developing guidelines for food service manager certification.  A resource list is being developed with a specific process to be included on the list.  They are investigating questions concerning foods with no English labeling.

Meeting adjourned at 11:47 AM.  The next meeting will be the annual meeting November 7th at the Sheraton Hyannis Resort.

Respectfully submitted:
Donna L. Moultrup, Secretary

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November 7, 2001       ANNUAL MEETING     SHERATON HYANNIS RESORT

The meeting was called to order at 5:07 PM by President, Ruth Clay, as part of the MHOA annual conference at the Sheraton Hyannis Resort. Present at the meeting were Vice President, Robin Chapell, Secretary, Donna Moultrup, Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor, Steven Calichman, Jeanmarie Kent Joyce, Everett Penney, Richard Ray, Joel Hollis, Horace Baxter, Jennifer Sullivan, Joe Godzik, Kathleen MacVarish, Linda Menyo, Gail Nixon, Jane Anderson, Cheryl Kelly, Nancy Allen, Robert Jacques, David Kaplan, Mary Thomas, Richard Day, Peter Mirandi, Karen Springer, Joanne Martel, Sandy Collins, June Blake, Lou-Ann clement, Jane Gallahue, Kent Murphy, Joseph Tabbi, Philip Leger, Paul McNulty, John Canning, Russell Henderson, Dawn Peters, Elizabeth Canning, Beverly Hirshhorn, Bruce Murphy, Tom McKean, Linda Shea, Ruth-Ellen Sandler, Jana Ferguson, Richard Marino, Kevin O'Brien, and David Naparstek.

Ruth Clay explained that a nominating committee composed of three past presidents had been appointed and had spent two months on the process of determining candidates for open positions.

The following slate of officers was presented for vote:
 President   Robin Chapell
 Vice-President  Donna Moultrup
 Secretary   Jana Ferguson
 Treasurer   Phyllis Boucher

Having no additional nominations, the Secretary was asked to cast one vote for the slate of officers.

Regional meetings were then held and the following individuals were elected to represent their regions:

Northeast   Richard Day
Central   Nancy Allen
Western   Russell Henderson
Metro West   Linda Shea
Southeast   Jeanmarie Kent Joyce

The following individuals were nominated to fill at-large seats on the Executive Board:

 John Canning   Steve Calichman
Fredrick Cantor   Bruce Capman
Holly Detroy   Alan Perry
Peter Kolodzeij   Jim Nugent
Jane Gallahue   Joel Hollis
Joanne Martel   Paul McNulty

While the ballots were being counted, a discussion was held concerning alternate locations for the annual conference.  MHOA has one more year on the contract with the Sheraton Hyannis Resort and this is a good time to consider options, if the membership feels it is desirable.

Several ideas were discussed such as alternating between the same hotel chain but in different cities.  Representatives from western Massachusetts suggested the Lenox/Pittsfield area. Price, food, quality facility, pool, exercise room and proximity to the ocean were all raised as important items to consider when choosing.

An e-mail and/or newsletter survey will be created by the 2002 conference chair, Donna Moultrup, to hopefully receive as much input as possible from the broadest spectrum of the membership.

The following individuals were elected to fill at-large seats by paper ballot:

 John Canning   Fredrick Cantor
 Holly Detroy   Peter Kolodzeij
 Jane Gallahue   Joanne Martel
 Steve Calichman   Jim Nugent
 Joel Hollis    Paul McNulty

Everyone was congratulated and the meeting adjourned at approximately 5:45 PM.

The meeting was called to order at 9:45 AM by Secretary, Donna Moultrup, at the Mass. Medical Society Building in Waltham prior to the Quarterly Meeting.  Present at the meeting were Treasurer, Phyllis Boucher, Executive Director, Dawn Sibor, John Canning, Howard Wensley, Jeanmarie Kent Joyce, Johanna Prindiville, John Higgins, Paul McNulty, Charlie Kaniecki, Ernest Mathew, Steven Bacceri, Joel Hollis, Jane Gallahue, Holly Detroy, Jennifer Sullivan, Steven Calichman, Greg Erickson, and Richard Day.  Ruth Clay arrived later in the meeting.

Minutes:  The October 18, 2001 minutes were approved as presented.  The November 7, 2001 annual meeting minutes were approved as presented.  Secretary requested assistance in identifying three names from the annual meeting sign-in sheet.

Treasurer's Report:  Treasurer reported that finances were consistent with other years.  There is approximately $4,000 in the checking account.  As is past practice, $20,000 will be moved from the conference account into the regular account.  There are a few outstanding bills and expected payments from the conference yet, so the final report is not complete.  The expected earnings from the conference should be approximately $25,000, same as in recent years.  Since MHOA has received its 501c3 tax status, it will be receiving a refund from the hotel on taxes paid at the conference primarily due to equipment rental.

Executive Director's Report:  Two forms were distributed concerning the 501c3 tax status.  Copies should be made of the originals distributed so that each time something is purchased for MHOA, a certificate of exemption and a purchasing certificate can be given to the vendor.  Vendors can refuse to accept the forms and refuse to asknowledge the tax exempt status.   This applies to the purchase of supplies; it does not include meals or hotel rooms.  Dawn asked that if towns have public education meetings, please let her know how many people attend, or betteryet, have MHOA be a co-sponsor.  Individual towns holding public educational meetings will help fulfill MHOA's obligation under the new tax exempt status to educate the public.  Dawn was asked to remind the Executive Board monthly about this and an article will be put in the newsletter.  Dawn and Jeanmarie Kent Joyce attended a day-long training on toxic use reduction for the TURN grant.  Tentatively, there will be four workshops in different areas of the State starting the end of February.  Dawn asked about best times for everyone in consideration of other scheduled events.  It was also suggested that the topic surveys done at the Conference be looked at carefully to see if there were regional preferences.  Two topics could be offered in each location, in morning and afternoon sessions, so that people really interested could travel outside their region for a particular topic.

The following new members were unanimously voted:
Regular Members:
James Abare, Health Inspector, Winchendon
Brent Reagor, Health Agent, Acton
Harrison Lee, Sr. Sanitary Inspector, Brookline
Kerri Oun, Health Inspector, Woburn
Sandra Martin, Health Agent, Egremont & Great Barrington
Patrick McCormack, Sanitarian, Belmont
Kristin Esposito McRae, Sanitary Inspector, Melrose

Associate Members:
George Sherback, Mgr. Health & Env. Compliance, Stop & Shop
Suzanne Murphy, Account Executive, Mansfield Paper
Tara Lamothe, Town Nurse, Somerset
Roy Sanderson, Self-employed
Carmen Shay, President, Shay Environmental

FEAC Update:  Holly Detroy gave the update for the FEAC committee.  The State is proposing that the food managers' certification be renewed every five years by exam or demonstrating competence through a program approved by the Department and the FEAC subcommittee.  It has also been suggested that the inspectors could take the exam or do 12 hours per year of inservice in food service issues.  There was much discussion about this proposal, but in general, it was felt that the inservice requirement needed additional study.  Priscilla Neves is drafting the language of the new proposal.

President's Report:  Ruth Clay announced that Nancy Allen will remain MHOA's representative to the Solid Waste Committee.  She reported that the Leadership Institute's most recent meeting was not well attended.  There was a proposal presented at the meeting concerning a training "certificate" program.  She felt that there was strong feeling that the program was not what the health officers originally envisioned.  Donna Moultrup expressed feelings that they were making very slow but sure progress towards some kind of training program.

Report from DPH:  Howard Wensley reported that the job description for another regional health official, like Charlie Kaniecki, had been distributed and that they had received a couple of applications.  It was not clear at this point how the budget might affect the position.  They are working with MEHA on an annual housing training.  The State lab had tested approximately 3000 samples for anthrax so far.  It was suggested that health departments do careful screening to decrease those numbers.  It was reported to Howard that police and fire usually responded to those calls and their protocols dictated what was done, despite public health's intervention.  There are no changes to regulations on the horizon.

There were no representatives from the Food & Drug Division.  Ruth will write a letter to Paul Tierney again asking that we have a representative at every meeting.

Report from DEP:  John Higgins reported that the portion of the Affordable Housing report dealing with Title 5 issues is not going anywhere at this point.  Johanna Prindiville distributed the results of the survey concerning the February DEP workshop.  The regional directors are looking at the results currently in order to plan the program.  She reported that Ann McDonald would be the new public relations director for DEP and that Mike Pierce would be the new public relations director for the Boston office.

Education Committee:  Participants in the Pressure Dosing day-long workshop reported that it was well done and that approximately 125 people attended.

Coalition for Local Public Health:  Ruth Clay reported that Laurie Stillman is leaving her position as Executive Director of MPHA.  The Coalition is still trying to get the report out to the legislature.  MAHB is still the stumbling block.  They are working on some by-laws for the Coalition so that the process will be more clearly defined and less susceptible to individual manipulation.

New Business:  Greg Erickson reported that there have been a number of problems with viruses.  He encouraged everyone to make sure that they had up-to-date virus protection on their computers.

Steve Calichman reported on West Nile virus in his area.  He commended the State on the courier service and the results of the testing sent to Health Departments.  He was, however, very disappointed in the lack of leadership by DPH.  He felt that DPH should be able to set parameters for larviciding and spraying and that DPH should supercede Fish and Wildlife concerns.  There was also discussion about the late training for people doing larviciding.  It was felt that more trainings earlier in the year were necessary.  Ruth Clay will write to the Pesticide Bureau concerning the training issue and to DPH about the leadership issue.  It was stated that most of the State is not covered by Mosquito Control Projects currently and it was anticipated that the West Nile Virus issue was going to continue to grow.

Meeting adjourned at 11:50 AM.  The next meeting will be on January 17, 2002, at the Newton City Hall.

Respectfully submitted:
Donna L. Moultrup, Secretary

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