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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM041912JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, April 19, 2012 2:30 PM — 4:30 PM Masonic Temple, 1338 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Board Members StaffMembers Phil Johnson, Chair, County Commissioner District #1 Thomas Locke, MD, MPH Health Officer David Sullivan, County Commissioner, District #2 Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Director John Austin, County Commissioner, District #3 Julia Danskin, Nursing Services Director Roberta Frissell, citizen at large (County) Jared Keefer, Environmental Health Services Director Catharine Robinson, Port Townsend City Council Veronica Shaw, Deputy Director/Chief Operations Director Sheila Westerman, Citizen at large (City) Jill Buhler, Vice Chair, Hospital Commissioner, District #2 Chair Johnson called the meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:30 PM. A quorum was present. Members Present: Phil Johnson, David Sullivan, John Austin, Roberta Frissell, Sheila Westerman, Jill Buhler, Catharine Robinson Staff Present: Jean Baldwin, Julia Danskin, Jared Keefer, Veronica Shaw APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved and seconded to approve the agenda of the April 19, 2012 BOH meeting. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Frissell requested a spelling correction under Activity Update from ECHO to ECHHO. Member Buhler requested that when amending a sentence, recommended by the Board, the complete sentence being changed should be reflected in the minutes rather than noting the partial sentence change, as noted under Correspondence from Board, in the second paragraph. The amended sentence should read, `Accurate measures of particulate air pollution are necessary to evaluate adverse effects on our vulnerable populations — the very young, elderly, and those with respiratory conditions.' Member Buhler moved to approve the minutes of the March 15, 2012 as amended. Member Austin seconded. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC HEALTH HERO AWARDS PRESENTATION Members of the Board read each Public Health Hero Award and Julia Danskin presented the awards to each Public Health Hero who were, Brenda DiPrete of Jefferson Health Care, Adrienne Duvall for community outreach and support for family services, Nicole Norris from food services at Brinnon School District, Veda Wilson, Food Services Director at the Quilcene BOH Minutes —April 19, 2012 School District, Team Port Townsend Steering Committee and Catering Congregation Committee, Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. OLD BUSINESS and INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Correspondence Ms. Baldwin pointed out the letters in the agenda packet that were received regarding upcoming actions with Port Townsend Paper. Member Buhler moved to respond to the letter from the Port Townsend Paper Company, thanking them for their extensive and thoughtful response and invite the Mill to be a partner in a community wide effort to support a second monitoring station. Member Robinson seconded the motion. Jefferson County Pertussis Outbreak Update & Influenza Update Ms. Baldwin said that the Pertussis outbreak in Jefferson County has slowed down but continues. Jefferson County is the second highest in the State by rate per 100,000. She also reported that other counties are seeing the largest number of cases in children before their second booster, which shows the vaccine protection may not be lasting until the second booster is given. Jefferson County is different in that our highest number of cases seen is in unimmunized and partially immunized individuals. Ms. Baldwin also reported on influenza which is a milder and later season and the B in the vaccine is not addressing the entire strain. Member Austin reported that he received a report from the State Board of Health and the current count for Pertussis in the State is almost 900. Our Kids Our Business — National Speaker Coming April 26, 2012 — Dr. Anda and Quen Zorrah Ms. Danskin announced that included in the agenda packet is a flier with an update of "Our Kids Our Business". The back side of the flier has an advertisement for the presentation by Dr.Anda and Quen Zorrah, which will be on April 26, 2012 at the Northwest Maritime Center. Ms. Baldwin announced that Dr. Anda is the single largest national researcher on ACES and is coming to Port Townsend to give his presentation due to the work that Quen Zorrah has done, which received Dr. Anda's attention. New Business O & M Homeowner Process Report from Advisory Committee Kristina Mayer, Facilitator for the O & M Homeowner Process gave a presentation of the process and the target recommendations of the workgroup for the Onsite Sewage System Monitoring Program revision to the Onsite Sewage Code. Ms. Mayer shared the makeup of the group and the process used. She explained that at each of the meetings there were certain recommendations 2 BOH Minutes —April 19, 2012 that the workgroup worked on. Ms. Mayer discussed that the posters and Q & A papers that were at each meeting answered most questions for community members in attendance of the meeting. Prior to each meeting all materials, Q & A documents, meeting summaries, and all recommendations were posted on the website for public access. There were 3 public forums in different areas of the county, held at different times, trying to get people involved in learning about the program. People who attended the meetings were invited to review the posters and ask questions of the staff, facilitators and work group members followed by a public comment period. Ms. Mayer stated the five things she heard the most from the the members of the public were; the cost to the homeowners, is there really a water quality problem, whose fault it is and where does the problem emanate if there is a problem, privacy issues, and the burden of more regulation. The work group was aware of these concerns and made efforts to address them in their recommendations. Next Ms. Mayer outlined the suggested changes to the code; included in the packet. The first recommendation defines the types of systems that are available for homeowner inspection, minimum frequency of inspection and who is eligible to complete the inspection. The second recommendation states that where there are no county records available regarding the type, size, location and other applicable information on a septic system, a site plan must completed and submitted to JCPH by a certified O & M Specialist or licensed designer prior to an inspection by a homeowner. The third recommendation states that the homeowner must submit documentation to JCPH showing satisfactory completion of approved training which must include basics of OSS operation, monitoring and maintenance and how to conduct a monitoring inspection and report the results. A Homeowner Inspection Authorization is valid for the length of the ownership of the property. Next, Linda Atkins, Environmental Health Specialist, outlined the suggested fees. The work group suggested keeping the fee for authorization as low as possible. Staff recommended an initial fee of $10 for establishing the homeowner's authorization, with an additional $5 for each additional system the property owners owns and plans on inspecting. The current filing fee is $51. Ms. Atkins reviewed what this fee entails. It is suggested that JCPH will keep the files on the septic systems. Ms. Mayer stated that the revision allows for a person that owns several properties to inspect all of their systems. In order for a property owner to inspect a commercial property, authorization may be considered based on several factors. Ms. Atkins stated that the goal is to start offering classes and enable people to get authorized in August and to also send notices to homeowners of alternative septic systems in August of 2012. Notices will continue to be sent every 4 months after that. They anticipate that everyone in the county with a septic system will be notified by January 2014. Ms. Atkins also announced that there are funds that have been made available by a grant through the EPA to assist property owners that need to install risers on their system, and assist people who have not yet had an initial inspection. Chair Johnson moved Public Comment to the next item of business. There was a period of questions, comments and suggestions from Board Members on the code revisions. BOH Minutes —April 19, 2012 Member Buhler moved to hold the public hearing on the O & M Homeowner Process at the May 17, 2012 BOH meeting. Member Westerman seconded. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT A citizen suggested that a sound system be provided so that the public can hear the Boards discussion. Secondly he expressed concern over the $51 filing fee and gave several examples of what other counties charge. He also commended the work that has been done and feels this is a needed program. A citizen commented on the section that refers to the infirmed, elderly or disabled homeowner authorization process. He made other comments on the revisions and existing code. He also addressed the rat problem in South County. Washington State Legislative Update Ms. Baldwin announced that the budget has been passed, which resulted in a 15% reduction from what was submitted in the 2013 budget. There was a decrease in Communicable Disease and Department of Ecology money. It was brought to the Boards attention that the motion to send a letter thanking Port Townsend Paper for their extensive and thoughtful response and inviting them to be a partner in supporting a second monitoring station was moved and seconded, but was never brought to a vote. Member Austin moved to affirm that it is the Boards desire that the aforementioned letter be crafted by the department and signed by The Chair. Member Buhler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ACTIVITY UPDATE Ms. Baldwin announced JCPH is exploring purchasing electronic medical records as recommended by healthcare reform. Chair Johnson read a letter of thanks addressed to everyone that served on the septic monitoring work group. Member Sullivan moved to have the letter signed by Chair Johnson and sent. Member Westerman seconded. The motion passed unanimously. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR The next scheduled BOH meeting will be held May 17, 2012 from 2:30 to 4:30 PM at Cotton Building, 607 Water St., Port Townsend, WA. 4 BOH Minutes —April 19, 2012 ADJOURNMENT Chair Johnson adjourned the BOH meeting at 4:32 PM JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH Phil Johnson, hair excused Roberta Frissell, Member L�/ & e 4 � Ji Buhler, Vice Chair David Sul van. em er l 2 Catharine Robinson, Member J Sheila Westerman, Member Respectfully Submitted: Stacie Reid 5 BOH Minutes —April 19, 2012